Regional report
Below : Largest Chinese exhibition venues , in 2019
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
near Shanghai , and the south China Greater Bay Area which comprises the Pearl River Delta cities plus Hong Kong , and Macau .
This potential for growth is backed by the findings of the GIPR which reports on a continued remarkable increase in venue capacity . Jwc has identified 35 venues totalling 3.3m sqm now under construction with several others at the planning stage . Essink comments that , even the recent and current waves of venue construction in China have generally been driven more by policy than market research , predictions that they would all sit empty have not been borne out . Much of the new space coming online will , he thinks , be filled by Chinese organisers who he sees becoming stronger .
Those Chinese organisers , Essink says , have learned very quickly and are investing significantly in their people these days . He adds that he has been very impressed by the sophistication of the current joint venture partners for the international organisers . “ They ’ re completely different to those from 10 years ago ,” he says .
Ongoing restrictions on
Shenzhen World
NECC Shanghai
China Import & Export Fair Complex ( Pazhou )
international travel will constrain some of the growth for both those new generation local organisers and the big multi-nationals . “ During the pandemic , the international part of our shows was the most hurt ,” Zhong says . “ The local part remained strong .”
Adsale ’ s Chu agrees and says : “ The domestic market has been robust . We have recorded doubledigit increments in our domestic visitors ”. Essink suggests that in many cases local companies have moved in to take up space which
Kunming Dianchi Lake ICEC
China Kitchen Capital IEC ( Binzhou )
Chongqing IEC
Shanghai New IEC ( SNIEC )
Western China ( Chengdu ) International Expo City
Wuhan IEC
China Hongdao ICEC
Source ( above ): jwc , Global Industry Performance Review
Below : Aerial view of Shanghai at night wasn ’ t being used by internationals . DLG ’ s Chen sees this as temporary . “ At present , our offline exhibitions focus on the domestic market , but we have not given up the international market ,” he says . Once Covid-19 is under control and international travel has re-opened , he says the company will resume a ‘ dual circulation ’ development strategy . This reflects the Chinese government ’ s policy of prioritising domestic business while remaining open to international activity .
A significant number of the international exhibitor companies already have their own operations in China or well-established representatives and have still been able to participate in the important fairs . Accommodating international visitors , who pre-pandemic had been an increasingly important part of some fairs , is proving more challenging . China remains very conservative on re-opening its borders and some of those to whom EW has been speaking on this issue believe that it will be at least another 12 months before we reach anything like normal , pre-pandemic travel into China from the rest of the world .
Despite that , and based on his many years ’ experience , Essink is convinced that “ It ’ s easy to conclude here that China will continue to be the growth engine for our industry ”.
www . exhibitionworld . co . uk Issue 4 2021 17