At 2:00 p.m. on September 22, 2015, the Shanghai-Sichuan Exhibition Education Symposium was held as scheduled in the meeting room of the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association. The meeting was chaired by Ji Lude, secretary-general of the association.

President Chen Xianjin warmly welcomed representatives from the Sichuan Foreign Trade Service Center and teachers from Sichuan universities to the association for exchange. He said that the association was very willing to provide resources for the development of the exhibition industry and the training of exhibition talent in Sichuan, and sincerely welcomed the delegation to attend the International Exhibition Industry CEO Summit to be held by the association in Shanghai in January 2016. The theme of the 2016 summit would be market orientation and international competitiveness.

Li Ming, director of the Sichuan Foreign Trade Service Center, said that the purpose of leading a group of teachers from Sichuan universities to visit and conduct research in Shanghai was to promote the integration of industry and education in Sichuan's exhibition sector. In recent years, Sichuan has also been actively developing cultural and creative industries and seeking breakthroughs. For example, it has organized activities around the Giant Panda City Mayors Roundtable and advocated environmental protection. Shanghai is relatively advanced in exhibition education, and the delegation hoped to learn from Shanghai. They came to Shanghai seeking answers to the question of how academic education can meet market demand.

Zhang Min, vice president of the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association, director of the association's Education Professional Committee and dean of the Shanghai University Exhibition Research Institute; Hu Ping, deputy dean of Shanghai Exhibition College at East China Normal University and head of the Department of Exhibition Management; Niu Panqiang, deputy director of the Advertising Department at Shanghai University; Wang Feng, head of the exhibition major at Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Polytechnic; and teachers from Sichuan took part in active discussions.

The topics of exchange included the macro situation of Shanghai's exhibition industry and exhibition education, the basic conditions of the advertising department at Shanghai University, the exhibition department at East China Normal University and the exhibition major at Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Polytechnic, the requirements of Shanghai exhibition enterprises for university talent training, professional curriculum design for inviting in-service enterprise professionals to teach practical knowledge at universities, weak teaching resources and teacher training.

Participants from Sichuan included: Li Ming, director of the Sichuan Foreign Trade Service Center and president of the Sichuan Import and Export Chamber of Commerce; Xiong Yi, deputy director of the Sichuan Foreign Trade Service Center; Zhao Wei, manager of the Sichuan Foreign Trade Service Center; Li Yan, staff member of the Sichuan Foreign Trade Service Center; Liu Hongyan, deputy department director at Sichuan University; Liao Pei, lecturer at Sichuan University; Xu Xia, professor at Sichuan Tourism University; Lei Yang, associate professor at Sichuan Tourism University; Shi Jinna, associate professor at Sichuan Tourism University; Guo Chuangyue, associate professor at Chengdu University of Information Technology; Xiang Yi, associate professor at Chengdu University of Information Technology; Jia Minjiang, professor at Chengdu University; Wang Yuqiong, professor at Chengdu University; Yuan Yingyao, deputy director of the Department of Design Art at Sichuan Business Vocational College; and Huang Yuling, head of the exhibition major at Sichuan Huaxin Modern Vocational College.