Inland city becomes a showcase for the world

Chengdu is famous for its spicy food, genteel teahouses and giant pandas, and lately it has become a coveted venue for major international exhibitions

Chengdu, the laidback home of the equally laidback giant panda, is reaching out to the world, and the world is taking notice.

The inland city, the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China, is successfully turning itself into a world-renowned convention and exhibition center and thus an international metropolis, local officials say.

Chengdu held 502 major events last year, including 104 international conventions and 53 international exhibitions, according to official figures. The number of international events rose 38 percent increase from 2012.

The events generated direct revenue of 6.05 billion yuan ($1 billion; 730,000 euros), up 20.5 percent year-on-year. Indirect revenue reached 51 billion yuan.

The plan for the city's convention and exhibition industry is to hold more than 500 high-level events every year and to create more than 10 world-class conventions and exhibition brands by 2015. Revenue from the industry is expected to reach 10 billion yuan by 2015 and generate indirect income of 80 billion yuan.

"The municipal government views 2013 as a breakthrough year for Chengdu's exhibition and convention industry," says Mu Tao, director of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Expositions.

The city held two top financial events last year, the Fortune Global Forum and the World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention.

Chengdu was the first city in central or western China to host the Fortune Global Forum. More than 600 business leaders from top companies around the world gathered to share opinions on new trends in the world's largest developing economy.

"It's not an accident that we picked this city in west China," Andy Serwer, managing editor of Fortune, had said earlier. "Chengdu has been the perfect city for us because it represents so many trends.

"Chengdu is the ideal location and a perfect city for the event thanks to a number of attributes: its ability to attract multinationals, its 15 percent GDP growth as well as its advantages in transportation, education and resources."

According to the Chengdu government, at least 74 business deals were signed with Fortune 500 companies or large multinationals during that event, with a combined value of more than 112 billion yuan.

The World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention took place on Sept 26-27, the second time it had been held on the Chinese mainland. It attracted more than 3,000 Chinese entrepreneurs and industry leaders from 105 countries and regions.

During the convention, 241 business deals worth 132 billion yuan were signed.

"Compared with previous such conventions I have been to, this one was well organized in terms of transport, accommodation and meetings," says Zhang Yongqing, managing deputy auditor of the Chinese General Chamber in Thailand.

Zhang says Chengdu has huge development potential, and flying to the city from Thailand is now as quick as flying to Shanghai or Guangzhou.

"The relevant government departments in Chengdu, as well as the exhibition halls, hotels and other service providers, all tried their best to hold these conventions and exhibitions, and they made it all a pleasant experience for us," says Cao Xiuhua, chairman and CEO of Across China Communication Group, a Beijing company that was part of the organization of the Fortune Global Forum and the World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention.

Policy support, advanced infrastructure and international airlines have made Chengdu one of the leading cities in the convention and exhibition industry, she says.

First choice

Chengdu has become the first choice for major conventions and exhibitions in western China, local officials say.

Apart from the Fortune Global Forum and the World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention, other major events the city hosted in 2013 included the global food and hospitality trade show FHC China, the 2013 Pacific Asia Travel Association Travel Mart, the 21st International Conference on Nuclear Engineering and the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research World Congress.

FHC China was held in Chengdu on Nov 18 last year, the first time it had been held in western China. The event has been held for 16 years and attracts the world's top suppliers of retail and hospitality equipment as well as hundreds of buyers from China and overseas.

"As a regional hub and one of the fastest-growing cities in China, Chengdu has huge potential for consumption," says Bo Jinning, general manager of China International Exhibitions Ltd, the organizer of FHC China.

Bo believes the strong exposure Chengdu can provide will help exhibitors promote their businesses in the western China market.

"The support from local government departments was also an important reason why we put FHC in Chengdu," he says.

To support the organizers, the local government created a special service organization.

The Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Expositions unites other related departments such as customs, police and intellectual property authorities to provide the organizers with booking exhibition sites, exhibition booths, publicity and promotion, transport and public security.

The 2013 PATA Travel Mart, also came to western China for the first time, when it was held in Chengdu on Sept 16, 2013.

The mart is a top trade fair in the Asia-Pacific region, bringing together many international sellers and buyers and providing a platform to showcase travel products and services around the region.

You Yong, chief manager of Sichuan Airlines in Vietnam, says he was happy with the organization. "The service at the mart included good air services and accommodation and car rental services were easy to find there.

"Many people were interested in the 72-hour visa-free policy that took effect on Sept 1 in Chengdu," said You, who went to the travel mart with other overseas colleagues to promote the airline's international flights and domestic routes.

Chengdu was the fourth city on the Chinese mainland to adopt the 72-hour visa-free policy, which allows transit passengers from 51 countries who have valid visas and a flight ticket to a third country to stay up to 72 hours.

Jose Joseph, an Indian buyer on his first visit to Chengdu, says the good service, the giant pandas and the face-changing in Sichuan opera impressed him greatly.

"People here are warm and hospitable," he says. "It's just a pity, most people don't speak English."

According to the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Expositions, in 2014 a series of new international events will be staged in Chengdu, including the X Games, the Michelin Challenge Bibendum and the Ninth Conference on China-ASEAN People-to-People Friendship Organizations.

Local events

Chengdu is also fostering its own world-class convention and exhibition brands.

One of the top four auto shows in China, the 2013 Chengdu Motor Show was the biggest in its history, covering 140,000 square meters and occupying all nine halls and the outdoor area of the exhibition center.

Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz from Germany, Jaguar Land Rover from Britain, Infiniti from Japan and Chrysler from the United States expanded their presence as exhibitors and debuted a variety of new cars.

The International Furniture Fair Chengdu, the third-largest such event in China, brought together more than 800 businesses from 11 countries and regions. The four-day event attracted 170,000 dealers and generated trade worth 11 billion yuan.

"Chengdu's local convention and exhibition brands have been developed rapidly in recent years," says Jiang Dan, general manager of Chengdu New East Exhibition Co Ltd.

"However, compared with the first-tier cities in the industry, Chengdu's local brands still need to be improved, not only in numbers but also in scale and influence."

Chengdu has hundreds of enterprises but only a few are able to organize a convention or exhibition, Jiang says.

Chengdu New East Exhibition, the organizer of the International Furniture Fair Chengdu, is one of the few major convention and exhibition companies in the city.

"Convention and exhibition companies in Chengdu need to step out and bring in more professionals, cooperation and advanced ideas," Jiang says.

Chengdu also needs larger and better-equipped exhibition halls to accommodate the rapidly increasing number of local exhibitions.

Last year, the exhibition area for the furniture fair exceeded 120,000 square meters for a third time, while all nine halls of the Chengdu Century City New International Convention and Exhibition Center, built in 2005, cover only 110, 000 square meters.

Jiang's company had to make use of the outdoor area of the exhibition center. "This year we have decided to divide the fair into two parts and hold them at separate times," he says.

Other major local events included the China International Software Cooperation Conference, the China Chengdu International Urban Modern Agricultural Expo, the International Festival of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Chengdu, China, and the China International Food and Tour Festival.

Ambitious plans

To guide the development of its convention and exhibition industry, the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Expositions formulated a "five-point strategy" that emphasizes marketing, quality, internationalization, branding and standardization, says the bureau's Mu Tao.

As part of the strategy, the market will play a more important role while the government will provide mainly guidance and services. The government will also support and foster leading enterprises in the industry.

Chengdu will introduce more major events through improved cooperation with international organizations, ministries, commissions, national industry associations, universities and research institutes, Mu says.

The strategy also calls for bringing in more established convention and exhibition companies to help the city improve the professional level of its expo industry. The bureau of expositions has signed agreements with China International Exhibitions Ltd and German company Koelnmesse (China) Ltd for further collaboration.

Space Idea International Exhibition Group and China CYTS M.I.C.E Service Co Ltd have opened branches in Chengdu.

The city is also improving infrastructure for conventions and exhibitions.

As the current Chengdu Century City New International Convention and Exhibition Center no longer meets the demands of an increasing number of events, new exhibition and convention centers have been built or are being built.

The New Century Global Center, opened last September and said to be the largest multiplex in Asia, has an 18,000-square-meter arts center, a convention center covering 8,000 square meters and two five-star hotels with a total of more than 1,000 rooms.

The Western China International Expo Center, the largest in central and western China, will cover 500,000 square meters, including a 200,000-square-meter convention space.

Honors

The achievements in the convention and exhibition industry have enabled Chengdu to win the favor of organizations from home and abroad.

The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) accepted the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition as a member on May 27, 2013.

On Jan 10, the bureau signed a framework agreement with the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), the world's largest exhibition industry association, to become one of its members. This is the first international exhibition organization Chengdu has joined.

At last December's ceremony for the national golden five-star award for the conferences and exhibitions industry, Chengdu won the prize for excellent conferences and exhibitions city.

The city also won another four awards at the 2013 annual seminar for China's conferences and exhibitions industry of China.

Since 2008, Chengdu has been given awards for being among China's top 10 cities for conventions, exhibitions, "charming conference destinations" and festivals.

It is the only city in central or western China to be named China's Famous Convention and Exhibition City, according to officials.

Cultural attractions

When British Prime Minister David Cameron visited China in December, he spent 877 yuan to try a hotpot in Chengdu. He also enjoyed Chinese tea at the Thatched Cottage of Du Fu, the great Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) poet.

The local food is a major attraction in Chengdu. UNESCO named it the City of Gastronomy in 2010, the first Asian city to win that honor. Popular foods around the world, such as spicy hotpot, mapo tofu and kungpao chicken, all originated in Chengdu.

But the city has far more than hotpot, tea and giant pandas. It has managed to combine a laidback lifestyle with a fast-developing economy.

Despite the global economic turmoil and slower growth nationwide, Chengdu's GDP surpassed 900 billion yuan in 2013 from 390 billion yuan in 2008. The city's GDP accounts for about 8 percent of the entire western region's figure.

By the end of 2013, 252 Fortune Global 500 companies had set up offices in Chengdu. Andy Serwer, of Fortune magazine, has called Chengdu "a dynamic magnet for multinational companies". In 2010, Forbes Magazine ranked it at the top of its list of the world's fastest-growing cities for the next 10 years.

Chengdu is the fourth-biggest air hub in China after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Shuangliu airport had launched 71 passenger and cargo flights to other countries and regions by the end of 2013. By 2015, the city plans to open 36 international direct routes carrying 50 million passengers annually. A much larger airport is under construction.

Chengdu also runs the biggest railway container hub in Asia. In 2012, it opened two direct rail freight services to Europe, one to Duisburg, Germany, and the other to Lodz, Poland.

Contact the writers through liyu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 02/21/2014 page16)