SZ's convention and exhibition strength ranks third nationwide

A Portuguese visitor is attracted by the energy storage system on display at the Huawei booth during the 2023 International Digital Energy Expo, which which took place in Shenzhen in July. Sun Yuchen

Shenzhen has been recognized as the third most competitive Chinese city in terms of conventions and exhibitions, a testament to the strong momentum of its convention and exhibition sector this year.

According to an annual report by the China Convention, Exhibition and Event Society that assesses cities’ strengths in conference and exhibition development in areas such as infrastructure and business environment, the top five cities in the overall competitiveness ranking of 105 Chinese cities are Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Shanghai. Compared with the rankings in the previous year, both Shenzhen and Guangzhou moved upward by two places, while Beijing and Chengdu remained unchanged in their rankings.

In addition, Shenzhen also ranks second nationwide in three assessment dimensions, namely the competitiveness of the city’s convention and exhibition industry, the competitiveness of the city’s convention and exhibition enterprises, and the competitiveness of the city’s macro business environment.

Since the beginning of this year, Shenzhen has been expanding its efforts in boosting its convention and exhibition sector. Data show that in the first half of this year, the city held nearly 80 exhibitions with a total exhibition area of 4.37 million square meters, up by 690% and 650% from a year ago respectively. Around 100 fairs are slated to take place before the end of this year, with the total exhibition area for the whole year expected to reach 9 million square meters, a record high.

The 19th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF) which is on a record scale, takes place in Shenzhen in June. Liu Xudong

Shenzhen has stipulated plans to further develop this sector so as to become an internationally renowned city for conventions and exhibitions. According to the city’s commerce bureau, Shenzhen will work closely with Hong Kong and Macao to jointly run a number of key exhibitions in order to benefit enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The three cities have agreed to deepen cooperation and expand the scales of more than 20 fairs, including the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair, and the International Digital Energy Expo.

The exhibition sector has been one of the pillar industries of Shenzhen. The total areas of exhibitions taking place in Shenzhen in 2022 totaled 6.02 million square meters, accounting for 10.8% of the country’s total, up 10.7% from a year earlier, and ranking first among Chinese cities.

Shenzhen aims to build itself into an international consumption center by 2025, and a city of conventions and exhibitions will take shape by then, with the total exhibition area in the city exceeding 11 million square meters and three to five global top 100 exhibition companies to be either established in the city or introduced to the city, according to Shenzhen's 14th five-year plan.