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Exhibition industry spurs Suzhou's economic growth
By Xiao Song (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-26 07:55 The 2010 World Expo in Shanghai will be a major shot in the arm for the whole of China's exhibition industry and give Suzhou's nascent exhibition industry a chance to shine, according to Chen Gang, president of the Suzhou International Expo Center. Reflecting on the opportunities opened up by the high profile 2010 event, Chen said: "The Expo will inevitably spur visitors to tour other cities beside Shanghai, especially those within the Yangtze River Delta region. As the nearest major city to Shanghai, Suzhou is sure to benefit from a huge "knock-on" effect from the event. "Suzhou exhibition firms need to seize their moment and put the hours in now to ensure they can truly capitalize on the one-off opportunity that the Shanghai Expo will give the city." Compared to a number of other cities in China, Suzhou's exhibition and convention industry is still very much in its infancy. However it has seen phenomenal growth since the completion of the Suzhou International Expo Center back in 2004. The center has maintained an impressive 35 percent year on year growth every year since it opened. As of the end of May this year, the center had hosted more than 400 events, including 124 exhibitions and 50 national and international conferences, and received a total of 3 million visitors. Last year, despite of the financial crisis, the center hosted 137 events - a 52 percent increase on the previous year. Prior to the opening of the Expo Center, the city was averaging around only 20 major trade events a year. The 137 events hosted in 2008 included 33 major exhibitions and a number of high profile conferences and symposiums, including the China International Medical Equipment Fair, API China & Interphex China and the International Congress of the China Orthopedic Association (COA). Chen said: "This growth shows the center is now very much on the radar of the world's conference and exhibition organizers, many of whom have been impressed by the professionalism of our staff and the excellence of our facilities." Echoing Chen's words, a spokesman for the COA said: "The success of last year's event surpassed our expectations. We were truly impressed by the services offered by the center. If 100 points are the top mark for customer satisfaction, we'd have to give it 100 plus 5." The center prides itself on the international quality level of its staff. Each year, the center sends handpicked staff members to participate in training sessions in Singapore and Hong Kong, both of which are famous for the high standards of their exhibition and convention industries. The Suzhou International Expo Center is also the only body of its kind in China to be a member of the three leading international exhibition industry associations - the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) and the Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO). As a result of the center's membership, Suzhou has now become the home of the China headquarters of IAEE. Chen has also been appointed as president of the IAEE in China, a sure indicator that the center is now playing a central role in the domestic and overseas exhibition business. The rapid development of Suzhou's exhibition industry is also the result of enormous investment by the city government in its urban infrastructure, as well as significant upgrades to its industrial development, its advantageous location and its abundant tourism resources. The Suzhou Industrial Park, the site of the expo center, is one of the major industrial bases in Suzhou and the Yangtze River Delta area. Its comprehensive, well-developed industries specialize in the electronic information, bio-medical, machinery and clothing sectors and generate considerable demand for exhibition and convention events. At the center of the delta, Suzhou has excellent transportation and logistics links with many of its neighboring cities, including Shanghai and Nanjing, but also enjoys lower costs in terms of hosting exhibitions and conventions. Suzhou is one of the nearest cities to Shanghai. Many have found it considerably easier and quicker to reach Suzhou from Shanghai than it is to cross from one side of Shanghai to the other. It takes just 45 minutes to travel from Shanghai to Suzhou by train, with 150 trains running between the two cities every day. The Shanghai-Nanjing Intercity Railway, which is currently under construction, is scheduled to commence services prior the opening of the 2010 Shanghai expo in May next year. Once in operation, the new line will cut travel time from Shanghai to Suzhou from 45 minutes to just 15. In addition, Suzhou is only 88 km away from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, 120 km from Shanghai Pudong Airport and 23 km from Wuxi Shuofang Airport. The city has four ports within a 100-km reach and three expressways connecting it to the outside world. As well as its infrastructure and ancillary facilities, the strong support of the local authorities is frequently cited as another important factor in the growth of the city's exhibition and convention industry. Last November, the administrative committee of the Suzhou Industrial Park announced a number of preferential policies designed to stimulate the development of the industry. These included the establishment of a special fund to assist in the hosting of large events in the center. For hundreds of years, Suzhou has been listed among the most attractive cities in China for both living and leisure purpose. It is now becoming equally well regarded as a major convention center and a prime destination for business tourists. Spanning 8,488 sq km in Jiangsu province, Suzhou is a famous historical and cultural city, as well as an important tourism destination. It has long been praised for its myriad canals and waterways, lush rolling hills, spectacular temples, pavilions, classic gardens and, most importantly, the spectacular beauty of the Taihu Lake. The rapid growth of the exhibition and convention industry has also acted as a spur to the development of a number of related sectors, most notably the catering and tourism industries. Chen said "The knock-on effect of the exhibition and convention industry to a number of closely related sectors can roughly be approximated as demonstrating ratio of 1-to-10 - that is for every one yuan earned by the exhibition industry an additional 10 yuan is also being spent somewhere else in the local economy."
 (China Daily 06/26/2009 page12) |
