Shenzhen: On the Fast Track

Shenzhen, a former Chinese fishing village that didn't even exist as a city 25 years ago, has emerged as one of the great success stories of China's modernization program.

Located in southern China's Guangdong province, its population of more than 8.6 million now is larger than that of neighboring Hong Kong, and the infrastructure of the two cities, somewhat belatedly, is being linked together, according to Paul Woodward, principal of Hong Kong-based Business Strategies Group and manager of the Asia-Pacific office of UFI, The Global Assn. of the Exhibition Industry.

“Shenzhen is, in some ways, China's melting pot,” Woodward said. “Almost nobody comes from Shenzhen, and the dialect spoken there is predominantly Putonghua, the national standard, as opposed to the local Cantonese. Companies have hired the brightest and the best from around China, and the country's most dynamic technology companies are located here. If these companies are holding their own in world markets, they're probably based in Shenzhen.”

This led the government a number of years ago to develop Shenzhen's China Hi-Tech Fair, the city's flagship exhibition, he added. It's a government-led event that fills the large, modern Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center (the city's only major venue), which has more than 100,000 square meters (1.1 million square feet) of space.

Interestingly, Shenzhen doesn't really compete with Hong Kong or Guangzhou for international sourcing fairs, Woodward said. The city has become a key center for domestic sourcing activity and Reed Exhibitions recognized this when it acquired control of Shenzhen Sino-Expom, which has a huge gift fair dominated by domestic Chinese buyers.

The city's jewelry tradeshows cater to the increasingly wealthy middle class in Shenzhen who, while not quite as rich as their neighbors in Hong Kong just across the border, have the highest spending power in China, Woodward said.

Shenzhen has developed into a powerful city boasting the highest per capita gross domestic product on China's mainland. Its comprehensive economic capacity ranks among the top for big cities in China, and the combined value of imports and exports has remained the country's largest for 12 years in a row.

Shenzhen is said to have the most dynamic economic development in China, thanks to its well-built market economy and a diversified culture of migration. The three pillar industries, high-tech, modern logistics and financial services, are propelling the city's economy along a fast track, Woodward said.

Li Zhen, president of the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center, agreed.

From the beginning of reform and the opening up to the West, the convention and exhibition industry of Shenzhen has taken a leading position in China in terms of quality, scale and degree of international participation, Li said. And, since 2004, the operation of the SZCEC has efficiently expanded development of the industry, he added.

Currently, more than 70 exhibitions are held in the SZCEC each year, including electronic information, medical instrument, furniture, jewelry, watch, handicraft, toy, garment, culture and art, mechanism, real estate and auto shows – more than 50 percent of which are international exhibitions.

Annually, exhibitions at the SZCEC span more than 1.8 million sq. m. (19.3 million sq. ft.) of exhibit space, making the venue among the top three in China, Li said. A series of brand-name exhibitions, such as the China Hi-tech Fair and the China (Shenzhen) Intl. Cultural Industry Fair have been gaining in influence. The FDI Annual World Dental Congress and many other conferences and exhibitions also have chosen the SZCEC, he added.

“The world exhibition industry was hit by the economy crisis to different degrees,” Li said. “The situation in Shenzhen is not as bad as we expected, and, compared with inland Chinese cities, we still have some advantages. We have dozens of well-known exhibitions both at home and abroad. Because of the brand-name status of these exhibitions, their size actually increased or will increase this year.”

In addition, he added, this year's increase in Shenzhen Municipal Government funding includes subsidies not only for all organizers holding shows in the SZCEC, but also to exhibitors who participate in shows in the facility.