On the morning of October 14, Zheng Huiqiang, president of the Shanghai Modern Service Industry Federation, together with Vice President Jian Danian, Deputy Secretary-General Chen Huqi, Liaison Department Director Liu Yu, council member Chen Xinqiang and other leaders, visited the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association for research. They were warmly received by Chen Xianjin, Party Committee secretary of the association, Sang Jingmin, deputy Party Committee secretary and president, Secretary-General Tu Jianqing and other leaders.
At the research meeting, President Sang Jingmin introduced the basic situation of the association and gave a detailed report on how the association, under the guidance of competent authorities including the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, led member organizations to respond actively and work together in the face of the sudden epidemic crisis this year, helping Shanghai's exhibition industry achieve a full recovery.
President Sang said that as of the end of 2019, the association had 571 valid members, basically covering the three major entities of the exhibition industry and the entire industry chain including exhibition logistics, education and training, event planning and information technology, giving it strong breadth and representation.
The epidemic this year brought an unprecedented and disruptive blow to the exhibition industry, with exhibitions suspended for nearly half a year. The association responded actively, from issuing the first industry proposal, to proactively providing members with epidemic-related legal consulting services, and then organizing research. Under the guidance of the Municipal Commission of Commerce, it formulated documents such as the Shanghai Exhibition Industry COVID-19 Prevention and Control Guidelines and the Shanghai Exhibition Industry Schedule Coordination Mechanism, playing an active role in restarting the exhibition industry. At the same time, the association organized online salons, actively explored integrated online and offline development, and innovated exhibition service models.
On October 12 this year, the association and Shanghai University of International Business and Economics jointly held the founding conference of the Yangtze River Delta Exhibition Research Institute, and together with industry associations and exhibition organizations from the three provinces and one municipality of the Yangtze River Delta and Jiangxi Province, convened a meeting of the Yangtze River Delta Exhibition Alliance. This will provide strong momentum for high-quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.
Regarding work in the next stage, President Sang said the association would continue to implement the central government's requirements for normalized epidemic prevention and control, namely guarding against imported cases and domestic resurgence. First, it will carry out research, salons and other activities around themes such as innovative exhibition service models under normalized prevention and control, while starting the preparation of group standards for green exhibitions. Second, in cooperation with the Municipal Commission of Commerce, it will carry out legal education for enterprises in the city's exhibition industry chain on the scope of application of the Shanghai Exhibition Industry Regulations, industry support measures, and the rights and obligations of all parties in the exhibition industry. Third, it will actively support the China International Import Expo by recommending outstanding and qualified member organizations to participate in expo services. Fourth, it will continue to do the annual qualification review and reassessment of exhibition engineering enterprises and further accelerate the training of exhibition talent.
Chen Xianjin, Party Committee secretary of the association, also introduced the future development plan and main work of the recently established Yangtze River Delta Exhibition Alliance and Yangtze River Delta Exhibition Research Institute, and shared ideas for promoting Shanghai's mature experience in industry training, project certification and qualification evaluation to the Yangtze River Delta Exhibition Alliance.
After listening to the report, President Zheng Huiqiang highly affirmed the exhibition association's proactive work and sense of responsibility during the epidemic. He said the association's services during the epidemic were outstanding. Starting from effective members, it actively coordinated and maintained services, playing a benchmark role.
Zheng said that in the modern service industry, exhibitions, education, medical care and other sectors are all important, and special attention should be paid to the role of cultural and creative services in driving modern services. He therefore asked the association to turn crisis into opportunity under normalized epidemic prevention and control, promote the digitalization of the exhibition industry, and advance development through both online and offline channels.
At the meeting, Vice President Jian Danian and Deputy Secretary-General Chen Huqi also offered warm encouragement and guidance on the association's work.
