Pudong New Area exhibitions sector roars back to life

The Shanghai New International Expo Center, or SNIEC – located in the Pudong New Area in Shanghai in East China – is widely recognized as one of the world's busiest exhibition venues and right now it's roaring back to life.

On March 7, the center welcomed its first two shows of the year, signaling a positive outlook for the exhibitions sector.

According to SNIEC general manager Michael Kruppe, the venue has scheduled more than 100 shows this year, expecting to recover to about 80 percent of the peak level in 2019.

"We are confident about the industry's accelerated rebound in the next two or three years," he said.

Overall, the Pudong New Area's exhibition industry is set to accelerate its recovery this year – planning to host more than 180 shows, with a total exhibition area exceeding 7 million square meters.

In March alone, SNIEC and the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center – also in Pudong – will stage 11 exhibitions, including a hotel supplies expo and a jewelry expo. Later in the year, a number of leading expos will return, such as the Appliance & Electronics World Expo, the Mobile World Congress and ChinaJoy. It is expected that this will boost retail spending, culture, tourism and other areas in the city.

At the end of January, Pudong issued 10 measures to support high-quality development of its exhibition industry. It took the lead in optimizing its business environment by attracting brand agglomeration, strengthening service guarantees and enhancing convenience services – all designed to stimulate the market recovery.