Due to the impact of COVID-19, both the number and scale of exhibitions held in Shanghai declined significantly compared with the previous year, and the exhibition industry was heavily affected. According to statistics, in 2020 Shanghai held 550 exhibitions of various types, down 47 percent year on year, with a total exhibition area of 11.08 million square meters, down 43 percent year on year. There were 25 exhibitions with a scale above 100,000 square meters during the year, including two exhibitions above 300,000 square meters, 20 fewer than in the previous year.
In the face of these challenges, Shanghai's exhibition industry took the overall situation into account and moved forward despite difficulties. On one hand, exhibition enterprises strictly implemented national and municipal prevention and control requirements and firmly held the safety bottom line. On the other hand, relevant municipal government departments continuously optimized the business environment by promoting the issuance of the Shanghai Exhibition Industry Regulations, the first local legislation for the exhibition industry among provincial-level administrative regions in China, launching special support funds for epidemic response, and strengthening enterprise services. Under unfavorable conditions, Shanghai's exhibition industry still delivered notable results.
1. Internationalization and Brand Development Achieved Significant Results
In the 2020 list of the world's top 100 trade shows published by Import-Export Manager magazine, 14 Shanghai exhibitions were listed, with a total exhibition area of 3.24 million square meters, up 16.8 percent year on year. Both the number and scale of listed exhibitions ranked first among major global exhibition cities.
During the year, Shanghai held 181 international exhibitions with an exhibition area of 8.74 million square meters, accounting for 78.9 percent of the city's total exhibition area. The proportion of international exhibitions increased by 1.5 percentage points from the previous year. The widely watched third China International Import Expo had an exhibition area of nearly 360,000 square meters, almost 30,000 square meters larger than the second edition. It attracted 274 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders, and cumulative intended transactions reached USD 72.62 billion, up 2.18 percent from the second edition.
2. Exhibition Scale Rebounded Rapidly
From June to December 2020, Shanghai held exhibitions covering 10.67 million square meters, recovering to nearly 90 percent of the same period in the previous year. All 25 exhibitions above 100,000 square meters were held in the second half of the year, and the number of large exhibitions in the second half was the same as in the corresponding period of the previous year. The third China International Import Expo and bauma China 2020, both exhibitions above 300,000 square meters, were successfully held in November.
3. Online and Offline Exhibitions Were Organically Integrated
The Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Alibaba Group jointly launched a cloud exhibition platform, with nearly 20 exhibitions operating on the platform during the year. More than 10 key exhibitions, including the 25th China Beauty Expo and the 26th China International Furniture Expo, launched high-quality online exhibitions while holding successful offline exhibitions. They organized overseas exhibitors to participate through cloud negotiations and cloud signing, actively innovated exhibition service models and improved the digital level of exhibitions.