lthough some trade

The general manager of Shanghai new International Expo Centre Co . Michael Kruppe believes his venue ’ s restart is likely to be in April 2023 and tells EW the situation vis-à-vis operating trade fairs in China now is pretty bleak .

“ The closing of venues , especially in Shanghai , started two years ago and remains like that ,” Kruppe says . “ Other venues , like Shenzhen , are reopening but Shanghai will certainly not push for reopening , but will initially seek to implement the stability of society as announced during the 20th party congress .” Kruppe adds this past year for Shanghai exhibitions has been “ a pure zero ”, except for November ’ s China International Import Expo .

The UFI China Club prepared the following information especially for EW on the situation in China regarding major trade fairs :

The good news is that Central China ( Hunan ) Agricultural Expo , the 106th China Food and Drinks Fair , China Machine Tool Exhibition , China ( Shenzhen ) International Gift Fair , Sichuan International Tea Industry Exhibition and China ( Wenzhou ) International Optical

Fair have all announced they will resume and these UFI-certified fairs are leading the recovery of China ’ s exhibition industry .

However , since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020 , ‘ resumption ’, ‘ suspension ’ and ‘ halt ’ have been common , and the situation generally deteriorated in 2022 . Beijing and Shanghai , the two major cities for international exhibitions , have not held any trade fairs for over a year . China ’ s ‘ dynamic zero-Covid ’ policy has disappointed an industry struggling under the epidemic .

In Shenzhen , a ‘ white list ’ is implemented for all exhibitors and visitors whose health status is checked using big data held by the local administration . Masks and body temperature detection are required , and hall facilities are sterilised on a regular basis . Medical rooms and isolation facilities are on site in case of emergencies .

Other cities , like Changsha , adopt less strict measures and exhibitors and visitors from low-risk areas with a Covid test negative for 48 hours are allowed .

Implementation of relevant epidemic prevention work is required by all exhibitions and organisers who also have to factor in manpower , material and financial resources .

Another challenging task is exhibitor / visitor acquisition . Suspension of shows has drained confidence , while digital marketing has given exhibitors and professional buyers new solutions . However , this has greatly increased the workload of organisers who need to spend more time

“ Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020 , ‘ resumption ’, ‘ suspension ’ and ‘ halt ’ have been common , and the situation generally deteriorated in 2022 ”

communicating with the exhibitors .

Since many cross-province visitors are unable to join shows , the Pet Fair Asia introduced subsidies for exhibitors to invite visitors . They can claim a reward of RMB200 per person for invited visitors .

For industries such as food and the pet sector , a large number of new products need to be released on an offline platform every year so that customers may experience these products live . Offline doesn ’ t cut it .

Cost control Organisers need to think about reducing unnecessary construction and VIP reception expenses . Exhibitors too are squeezing their budgets on construction costs and staff travel expenses .

VNU launched a series of measures after consulting with exhibitors , including leasing warehouses for storing exhibits free of charge and communicating with the local government . VNU also provided temporary staff for some exhibitors unable to come to Shenzhen for their shows , taking care of their booths and collecting contacts , all free of charge .

The recently resumed 106th China Food and Drinks Fair , the 24th Pet Fair Asia , and the 30th Shenzhen International Gift Fair all took more than 200,000sqm . This shows the industry has great potential for development and gives confidence in the future of China ’ s exhibition industry .