Shenzhen World
China’s
great leap
forward
his November, China will
open Phase 1 of what will
become the largest
exhibition and events
venue in the world.
The new Shenzhen World complex is
located just across the border from
Hong Kong in southern China and is a
truly breathtaking achievement of
planning and engineering.
With Shenzhen transforming itself
in recent decades from a small fishing
town of 30,000 people, to a 19m
population super-city that boasts a
GDP third only in China to Beijing and
Shanghai, the Shenzhen World
Exhibition and Convention Center is
set to be the main convening platform
for China’s Pearl River Delta industries
and knowledge pool to engage with the
wider world.
CMW’s editor visited the venue
ahead of its soft opening in November,
High-tech
is embedded in
the building
and there are
close links with
Huawei and
Tencent, all
based in the city.
Above:
Mr Mao Daben,
Executive Deputy
General Director
at Shenzhen World
while the first official major event, a
national furniture fair in March 2020,
will take over a significant part of the
Phase 1 capacity of 400,000sqm space
across 16 standard indoor halls, a mega
hall of 48,000sqm, one conference
centre and one more event centre hall
with a capacity for 13,500 attendees.
The opening of Shenzhen World will
allow many traditional and growing
events to transfer from the city’s old
conference and exhibition centre and its
maximum capacity of 110,000sqm.
With a fishbone-style roof running
the length of the new 1.75km
construction, the Shenzhen World
project is striking to say the least. The
two lobbies alone each have 6,000sqm.
German consultants JWC have
ensured a high specification all through
for planners and organisers, and there
are to be four hotels on site when the
Phase 2 completion is completed.
“We often compare Shenzhen to the
US because it is home to many
immigrants from across China and has
a very young population with an
average age of 32,” Shenzhen World
General Director Mr Ma Jun tells
CMW. This, he notes, is a big
contributor to the vibrancy of the city
and its high-tech orientation. Wages in
ISSUE 103
Shenzhen World
• Phase 1 to deliver 400,000sqm
of purpose-built indoor exhibition
space.
• Phase 2 will add a further
100,000sqm.
• The venue is designed with an
organising spine to connect 19
halls arranged symmetrically
along a central corridor.
• There are two main registration
lobbies directly connected to the
subway, two VIP entrances to the
west, plus the grand South
Entrance.
• A two-level central corridor
moves visitors from North to
South.
• Shenzhen World is 3km from
Shenzhen Airport and 75km from
Hong Kong Airport.
• The venue is served by two
metro stations.
Shenzhen are higher than elsewhere in
the country, so the venue and city are
beacons for young upwardly mobile
elites and start-ups. International venue
specialists SMG are contracted to
support operations at a venue which
will have two metro stations.
High-tech is embedded in the venue
building and there are close links with
Huawei, Tencent and DJI, all global
companies based in the city.
Shenzhen’s growth rate of 7.6% is
higher than Beijing and Shanghai and
Jochen Witt, CEO of JWC Consultants,
notes that over 50% of all exhibition
space sold in China is now in the Pearl
River Delta.
Shenzhen World Deputy General
Director Mao Daben tells CMW that
2.2m sqm of event space has been
booked for 2020 and he forecasts 2.5m
- 3m sqm for 2021. He expects the
centre to break even within five years,
once the surrounding infrastructure is
completed.
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