I. Overview of Industry Development in 2016

1. Overall exhibition activity

In 2016, Shanghai held 816 exhibition projects with a total exhibition area of 16.048 million square meters. The number of projects and total scale increased by 8.95 percent and 6.05 percent respectively from the previous year. Among them, 307 were international exhibitions with an exhibition area of 12.112 million square meters, and 509 were domestic exhibitions with an exhibition area of 3.936 million square meters.

2. Characteristics

1) Large exhibitions grew significantly, and projects above 200,000 square meters accounted for one quarter of total scale.

Among the 816 exhibitions held in 2016, projects above 200,000 square meters doubled in both number and scale compared with the previous year. There were 16 such projects, with a combined exhibition area of 4.01 million square meters, accounting for 25.0 percent of the total. There were 24 projects between 100,000 and 200,000 square meters, with a combined area of 3.149 million square meters, accounting for 19.6 percent. There were 32 projects between 50,000 and 100,000 square meters, with a combined area of 2.106 million square meters, accounting for 13.1 percent. The 72 exhibition projects above 50,000 square meters together reached 9.27 million square meters, accounting for 57.7 percent of total scale.

Comparison of exhibition project scale in 2016 and 2015: projects of 200,000 square meters and above numbered 16 in 2016 and 8 in 2015, up 100.00 percent; their area was 4.01 million square meters in 2016 and 2.044 million square meters in 2015, up 96.18 percent. Projects from 100,000 to below 200,000 square meters numbered 24 in both years, with area declining slightly from 3.1654 million to 3.149 million square meters, down 0.52 percent. Projects from 50,000 to below 100,000 square meters numbered 32 in 2016 and 37 in 2015, down 13.51 percent; their area was 2.106 million square meters, down 16.02 percent. Projects from 30,000 to below 50,000 square meters numbered 36, up 5.88 percent, with area of 1.384 million square meters, up 10.59 percent. Projects below 30,000 square meters numbered 708, up 9.60 percent, with area of 5.399 million square meters, down 12.40 percent. In total, 816 projects covered 16.048 million square meters, compared with 749 projects and 15.132 million square meters in 2015.

2) Internationalization improved further, and international exhibitions accounted for three quarters of total scale.

Among the 816 projects, 307 were international exhibitions with an exhibition area of 12.112 million square meters, up 18.53 percent and 13.24 percent respectively from the previous year. By comparison, total exhibitions grew from 749 in 2015 to 816 in 2016, and total area grew from 15.132 million to 16.048 million square meters. International exhibitions increased from 259 to 307, while their area increased from 10.696 million to 12.112 million square meters. Domestic exhibitions increased from 490 to 509, while their area decreased from 4.436 million to 3.936 million square meters. The area share of international exhibitions reached 75.5 percent, five percentage points higher than the previous year.

3) Major venues maintained steady growth in exhibition hosting, while some small and medium-sized venues began to transform.

Among Shanghai's major exhibition venues, the top three by exhibition area in 2016 were Shanghai New International Expo Centre, 6.49 million square meters; National Exhibition and Convention Center, 4.26 million square meters; and Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, 1.838 million square meters. Their combined area reached 12.59 million square meters, up 13.7 percent from the previous year and accounting for 78.5 percent of total scale, an increase of 5.3 percentage points.

Some small and medium-sized venues started to transform. Shanghai International Exhibition Center and East Asia Exhibition Hall stopped accepting exhibitions at the beginning and end of the year respectively. Part of the exhibition space at Shanghai Everbright Convention and Exhibition Center was converted into catering and shopping facilities. Meetings and events became important growth areas for small and medium-sized venues.

In 2016, Shanghai New International Expo Centre hosted 129 exhibitions covering 6.494 million square meters, up 13.8 percent in area from 2015. The National Exhibition and Convention Center hosted 43 exhibitions covering 4.26 million square meters, up 9.6 percent. Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center hosted 91 exhibitions covering 1.838 million square meters, up 24.1 percent. Shanghai Everbright Convention and Exhibition Center hosted 128 exhibitions covering 696,000 square meters, down 3.1 percent. Shanghai Exhibition Center hosted 58 exhibitions covering 421,000 square meters, down 10.6 percent. Shanghai Mart hosted 62 exhibitions covering 326,000 square meters, up 3.5 percent. Shanghai Automobile Exhibition Center hosted 13 exhibitions covering 115,000 square meters, up 36.9 percent. Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Center of International Sourcing hosted 45 exhibitions covering 412,000 square meters, up 109.1 percent. The agricultural exhibition venue hosted 13 exhibitions covering 75,000 square meters, up 7.1 percent. East Asia Exhibition Hall hosted 42 exhibitions covering 127,000 square meters, down 11.2 percent. Shanghai International Exhibition Center hosted no exhibitions in 2016, down from 282,000 square meters in 2015. In total, the main venues hosted 624 exhibitions covering 14.765 million square meters, up 10.6 percent in area. Other small venues hosted 192 exhibitions covering 1.283 million square meters, down 27.9 percent. The city total was 816 exhibitions covering 16.048 million square meters.