Local authorities pledge to provide stronger support

District governments in Shanghai have vowed to promote regional upgrades to turn the city into an international exhibition hub by 2020.

Shanghai Pudong New Area, the home to Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) and Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center (SWEECC), has promoted a series of measures to improve the service of the exhibition industry.

The Shanghai Pudong Commission of Commerce has partnered with the Shanghai Exit and Entry Administration Bureau to provide convenient and faster visa services to exhibitors.

It has also cooperated with the Shanghai entry and exit inspection and quarantine bureau and district customs to provide one-stop services so exhibition items can be delivered to venues in the shortest possible time.

A service standardization project was launched in 2012, and SNIEC was selected as the pilot to determine requirements for standards. The project, the first of its kind in Shanghai, has passed appraisal tests.

Those standards will play a significant role in helping pavilion operators improve service, an official said.

The "internet plus" concept was also promoted by the Pudong government in an effort to combine the traditional exhibition industry with online technology.

A smart exhibition app, known as Exhibition Life, was launched to help exhibitors and visitors locate the nearest car parks, make hotel reservations and even provide navigation services to users at the venue.

Looking ahead, the Pudong government will provide more support to professional exhibitions that have strong growth potential and branded exhibitions in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period.

Globally influential exhibitions and organizations will be welcomed to Pudong.

Many of the world's leading exhibitions, including the annual Mobile World Congress Shanghai and CES Asia, are held in Pudong.

The district also plans to give subsidies and awards to some professional conferences in order to optimize the structure of the local exhibition industry, according to a government official.

In the first half of 2016, 132 exhibitions were held in Pudong, including 122 international events. The total exhibition area in Pudong increased by 11.05 percent to 3.85 million square meters by the end of June.

Qingpu district's efforts

The launch of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) (NECC) in 2014 marked the birth of Qingpu's exhibition industry.

NECC occupies 1.47 million square meters and is the world's largest single block building and exhibition complex.

Over 60 large exhibitions, including many UFI-approved events have been staged in Qingpu in the past two years.

The total area of those exhibitions reached 6.8 million sq m, according to local authorities. By the end of June this year, Qingpu had attracted 319 exhibition businesses.

There will be better mechanisms for management and services in the region to support the development of Shanghai's exhibition industry, according to the Qingpu government.

"We will develop the West Hongqiao Community Management and Service Center to deal with emergency situations and some daily work," said an official from Qingpu government. "We will develop better communications mechanisms to serve event participants before, during and after exhibitions."

The Qingpu government will also provide more talents and support for exhibition-related companies. There will be funding for pavilion operators, event organizers, exhibition construction and design businesses. Locally developed exhibition companies will be encouraged to develop internationalization strategies to achieve better results.

The local government will encourage education institutions partnering with exhibition companies to provide event-related training to businesses. This will help the region to produce more talents in the future.

There will also be policies to attract and encourage talents to support the exhibition businesses.

(China Daily 11/09/2016 page15)