A global city of exhibitions and conventions

As of December 2022, Shenzhen has organized 24 regular exhibitions, with 16 of them selected as Shenzhen brand names, and has 17 enterprises certified by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI).

Shenzhen has cultivated many high-quality exhibitions, such as the China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF), the largest and most influential science and technology fair in China, and the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF), the No. 1 cultural industry exhibition in China. The Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center, whose first phase was inaugurated in July 2019, is expected to be the largest exhibition center in the world when fully completed.

CHTF, No. 1 tech fair in China

An annual event in Shenzhen, the China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF) is jointly held by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the State Intellectual Property Office, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Shenzhen Municipal Government. It is currently the largest and most influential science and technology exhibition in China.

CHTF integrates the trading of technologies still at the R&D stage, product exhibitions, a high-level forum, project investment promotion, as well as cooperation and exchanges. It also focuses on displaying advanced technologies and products in such areas as energy conservation and environmental protection, new generation information technology, biology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy, new materials, new energy vehicles and other fields. It has become an important window for China's opening up to the outside world in the field of hightechnology and plays an increasingly important role in promoting the commercialization, industrialization, and internationalization of high-tech achievements, as well as promoting economic and technological exchanges and cooperation among different countries and regions.

ICIF, No. 1 exhibition for China's cultural industry

TheChina (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF) is co-hosted by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee (National Press and Publication Administration, State Copyright Bureau and China Film Administration), the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration of Radio and Television, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the Guangdong Provincial Government, and the Shenzhen Municipal Government.

Organized by Shenzhen Press Group, Shenzhen Radio, Film and Television Group, Shenzhen Publishing Group Co. Ltd., and Shenzhen International Cultural Industry Fair Co. Ltd, the ICIF is a grand event in China’s cultural industry.

Since its establishment in 2004, it has held one session every year. By the end of 2022, it has held 18 sessions in total. The ICIF continues to improve in terms of its exhibition area, the number of exhibitors and exhibits, the number of subvenues, the number of participants, trading volume, and other indicators. Since the sixth ICIF in 2010, all 31 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have participated. In 2018, after the 19th National Congress of the CPC, the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee officially acted as the organizer of the ICIF, reflecting the role of the ICIF in national cultural reform and development. With the direct guidance and strong support of the Publicity Department and other host ministries, it has become the No. 1 exhibition for China’s cultural industry.

Shenzhen Book Fair

Shenzhen Book Fair, also known as South China Book Festival & Shenzhen Book Fair, is an exhibition of books and reading culture under the guidance of the Publishers Association of China and the Books and Periodicals Distribution Association of China, sponsored by the Publicity Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPC and Shenzhen Municipal Press and Publication Bureau. It is organized by the Office of the Organizing Committee of Shenzhen Reading Month and Shenzhen Publishing Group Co. Ltd.

After Shenzhen successfully held the 7th National Book Fair in 1996 and the 28th National Book Expo in 2018, Shenzhen Book Fair was inaugurated in 2019 as a national book industry fair.

Over the past three years, the fair has welcomed more than 3 million visitors, and has been breaking records as the longest and highest-selling book fair in China, creating an urban reading carnival boasting "the most sense of happiness, the most sense of gain, and the most sense of satisfaction" for generations of readers.

The fair has formed citywide interactive spaces, reaching the grassroots level in urban areas, with subvenues in every district having their own characteristics. It is widely considered to be an influential calling card promoting the city’s cultural assets.

SZHK Biennale 

The Shenzhen-Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture (SZHK Biennale) is a biennial permanent international cultural event hosted by the Shenzhen Municipal Government. It was inaugurated in 2005 and Hong Kong joined in co-hosting it in 2007. It has evolved into a unique model of "one exhibition in two cities with interactive activities." It is considered the world's only biennale to focus specifically on urbanism and urbanization.

Each session of the biennale selects different sites as exhibition venues, and invites influential curators, scholars, and critics from architectural and artistic circles to join in the exhibition planning. Organizers have invited famous domestic and international architects and designers to bring their works to Shenzhen to promote the development of Shenzhen's design, making the city a center of China's urban design, architectural planning and graphic design, while also bringing China's cutting-edge architects to the international stage. The biennale has been held eight times so far, exhibiting more than 1,800 outstanding works from all over the world, and attracting more than 1.65 million visitors to more than 900 events.

Shenzhen International Photography Exhibition

This international celebration of photography is jointly held by the China Photographers Association and the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles. The annual event is a comprehensive exhibition based on the theme of urbanism, as well as an international platform for the exchange of photographic art, and a new cultural calling card that Shenzhen is striving to build. Its permanent general theme is "Humanities, Cities, Science and Technology." Each edition is dominated by various exhibitions and lecturesfocusing on six areas: thematic exhibitions, a mobile photography exhibition, special invitations, theme-based academic seminars, parallel exhibitionsheld at subvenues, and an exhibition of photography-related enterprises.