Dongguan Ready for a Share of the Pie

Dongguan is moving ahead in its bid for an increased share of the burgeoning Chinese exhibition industry. And, it seems well-positioned to make that move, considering its prime location and the size of its region's population.

It also has the infrastructure to compete with some of China's other major exhibition industry centers, and the city's administration is considered especially progressive in seeking direct foreign investment.

Dongguan, a significant industrial center, is in central Guangdong Province in the Pearl River Delta, about 62 miles north of Hong Kong and 31 miles southeast of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, which also boasts a thriving exhibition industry. Shenzhen, with its Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Centre, is just to the south and Foshan is to the west.

Dongguan is also home to the South China Mall, known as the largest mall in the world, with approximately 600,000 square meters (6.5 million square feet) of total floor area with more than 1,500 stores.

Dongguan and its neighboring cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen are home to more than 25 million residents.

Dongguan boasts one of Asia's largest exhibition facilities, the Guangdong Modern Intl. Exhibition Centre (GDE), which opened in 2002 with 150,000 sq. m. (1.6 million sq. ft.) of indoor exhibition space. The Dongguan Intl. Conference and Exhibition Centre, established in 2004, offers an additional 23,900 sq. m. (257,250 sq. ft.).

Stanley Chu is chairman of the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Industry Assn. and chairman of Hong Kong-based Adsale Exhibition Services, which organizes a shoe fair in Dongguan, China Shoes/China Shoetec (also known as China Shoes), in cooperation with Messe Duesseldorf China.

Chu said that, even though Hong Kong is famous for hosting large-scale international sourcing fairs focusing on consumer products, there is not much overlap with trade shows in Dongguan.

“Dongguan is an industrial town, widely known as an export processing zone for China and has a lot of foreign-invested factories in the area,” he added.

Chu noted that most of the shows held in Dongguan target regional Chinese visitors. Many of the events are machinery shows that focus on the nearby plastics, shoe, woodworking and electronics industries. However, Chu added, Dongguan also has a number of large, well-known sourcing fairs, such as China Shoes and the Intl. Famous Furniture Fair, both held at the GDE. The furniture show, organized by the government, spans 200,000 sq. m. (2.1 million sq. ft.).

In 2004, the GDE hosted 26 exhibitions, including the Guangdong Auto Exhibition and Trade Fair, 40,000 sq. m. (430,500 sq. ft.), and the Dongguan Intl. Machinery & Materials, Plastics, Packing & Rubber Exhibition, 50,000 sq. m. (538,000 sq. ft.).

Chu said a few international exhibition organizers are getting involved in Dongguan industrial shows, most notably Reed Exhibitions and its Sino-Corrugated carton tradeshow. He added that Hannover Messe recently took over management of an electronics fair in Dongguan.

“Dongguan does organize a number of public fairs, such as for the automotive industry, leisure and travel, but not on a very big scale,” Chu said. “Most shows in Dongguan are not organized by the facilities, but rather are staged by independent organizers.”

Adsale's most recent China Shoes closed April 18 at Dongguan's Guangdong Modern Intl. Exhibition Centre. The show spanned 22,000 net sq. m. (236,800 net sq. ft.), with 507 exhibitors and 20,580 visitors. About 27 percent of buyers were from overseas, representing 80 countries. The next edition will be held Oct. 30-Nov. 3, the same time as the Canton Fair and concurrent with the World Footwear Forum, also at the GD Modern Intl. Exhibition Centre.

The GDE features four exhibit halls. Its conference center offers 11 meeting rooms, ranging in size from 85 sq. m. (900 sq. ft.) to 24,000 sq. m. (258,300 sq. ft.), and it has simultaneous interpretation available for foreign visitors. The facility is a member of the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Assn., China Assn. of Convention Centers and the Guangdong General Chamber of Commerce. UFI, The Global Assn. of the Exhibition Industry accepted the GDE as a full member in September 2004.

Dongguan is the third largest exporting region in China, behind Shanghai and Shenzhen, and a major center for Taiwanese investment, but outside China it hasn't gained the same recognition as Shenzhen. Still, the Dongguan region is being touted as one primed for significant growth in the technology sector in the coming years.