Intl fair marks opening of huge expo center

The opening of the 18th International Furniture Fair Chengdu on June 7 marked the debut of the new Western China International Expo City center in Chengdu, whose first phase was completed in August.

The fair, covering an exhibition area of 270,000 square meters in the Western China International Expo City, or WCIEC, and the Chengdu Century City New International Convention and Exhibition Center, attracted more than 1,800 exhibitors.

It has become the biggest event in central and western China in terms of exhibition size. The exhibition in the WCIEC alone covered about 200,000 sq m.

The WCIEC is in the Tianfu New Area of Chengdu. The first phase offers 305,000 sq m of exhibition space, including 100,000 sq m of outdoor area. The second phase, which includes a conference center, will be put into use in 2019.

Chengdu has set itself the goal of becoming a leading international exhibition city by 2020, according to Chengdu Exhibition Industry Development 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). The city will be capable of hosting some 700 significant events annually by the end of 2020, under the plan, including 175 international exhibition events. By then, Chengdu will have a total of 400,000 sq m of exhibition areas.

In 2016, Chengdu hosted 98 events in professional exhibition centers. Fifty-three exhibitions each covered more than 20,000 square meters.

The 2017 Western China International Fair Import and Export Expo will be held in the WCIEC in September. The expo will be a platform to help support the Belt and Road Initiative and support the opening-up of western China. The Western China International Fair will be permanently held in the WCIEC since 2018.

The WCIEC, along with the Chengdu Century City New International Convention and Exhibition Center, will expand Chengdu's exhibition capacity and attract many leading international events to the city.

The organizers of exhibitions, such as the China Animal Husbandry Expo and the China Education Equipment Exhibition, have shown interest in exhibiting in Chengdu.

Many international exhibition organizations are also keen to partner with Chengdu, to explore opportunities in the regional exhibition market.

(China Daily 08/31/2017 page19)