Reposted from Xinhua News Agency Shanghai Branch. Reporter: Wu Yu.
Xinhua News Agency client, Shanghai Channel, November 9. Reporter Wu Yu learned from the 83rd UFI Global Congress, which opened in Shanghai on November 9, that UFI has chosen Shanghai to establish a permanent office serving China. This is the first time UFI has established a permanent branch office in a single country.
UFI President Sergey Alexeev said that among UFI's nearly 700 corporate members, more than 130 are from Greater China. Thanks to rapid development in recent years, China has become the largest member country. Choosing Shanghai to establish a permanent office for China shows that China has become a major exhibition country in the world, he said.
It is understood that, according to the agreement with the competent departments of the Shanghai Municipal Government, UFI's permanent office in Shanghai will be located in Pudong and is planned to officially begin operations in the first half of next year. In the future, exchanges and cooperation between China's exhibition industry and international counterparts will become closer and more convenient.
Chen Xianjin, former UFI president and president of the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association, analyzed that among the world's top 20 exhibition companies, a considerable share of annual revenue and profit comes from the Chinese market, and behind exhibitions are industry and the macroeconomy. UFI's decision to choose China for its first permanent branch office in a single country shows that the international exhibition industry is optimistic about the Chinese market and China's economic prospects, he said.
According to the introduction, Shanghai has more than one million square meters of exhibition venues in total and has become the city with the largest exhibition area in the world and a leader in China's exhibition industry. Because the exhibition industry plays a strong comprehensive role in promoting Shanghai's development as an international economic, financial, trade and shipping center, building a science and technology innovation center with global influence, and upgrading and adjusting the industrial structure, Shanghai identified building an international exhibition capital as an important development goal at the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. This has also created a clear magnet effect for the international exhibition industry.
UFI is the world's most important international exhibition industry organization. It holds one annual congress each year, with member organizations applying to host it. In 2006, Beijing hosted the UFI congress. In March 2014, the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association submitted a hosting application to UFI. After competition, Shanghai stood out among four competing locations in the Asia-Africa region and won the right to host the 83rd UFI Global Congress.
The 83rd UFI Global Congress opened on November 9 with nearly 600 delegates, more than 80 percent of whom came from more than 50 countries and regions outside China. The overall scale was about 30 percent larger than in previous years. This reflects that, amid today's complex and difficult international economic environment, enterprises, experts and industry organizations in the international exhibition industry are more eager to share views and deepen exchange and cooperation. It also reflects the willingness of the international exhibition community to gain a deeper understanding of China's economy through Shanghai.