In the first half of this year, Xiamen hosted 29 large-scale exhibitions, each covering over 10,000 square meters, including the 24th China Xiamen International Stone Fair, the 2024 China Feed Industry Expo, and the 2024 Xiamen Industry Expo. The booming exhibition activities have created a chain effect, significantly boosting the local hospitality, catering, transportation, and tourism industries. According to statistics, Xiamen hosted 77 exhibitions in the first half of the year, a 30.5% increase year-on-year, with a total exhibition area of 1.123 million square meters, up 40%, setting a historical record. The city also held 2,035 meetings, a 5.4% increase year-on-year, achieving an economic benefit of 13.87 billion yuan, up 22.4%.
Xiamen's exhibition economy is thriving, with the city's exhibition industry receiving numerous accolades. In July, at the 13th Expo Investment Fair for International Exhibition Cooperation held in Beijing, Xiamen's exhibition industry won four awards, including the "Annual Model Exhibition City Award." At the fair, the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Commerce (Exhibition) and the Xiamen Convention and Exhibition Promotion Center organized the Xiamen Pavilion with the theme "Poetic Xiamen · Exhibition City." The delegation, consisting of nearly 40 representatives from 24 units including venues, conference companies, exhibition enterprises, and high-end brand hotels, conducted matchmaking and exhibition promotion activities. The two-day event was fruitful for the Xiamen delegation, with several potential projects set to visit Xiamen for further exploration.
Since the beginning of this year, Xiamen has intensified efforts to attract exhibitions, organizing delegations to participate in eight exhibition platform activities, including the China International Conference & Exhibition Industry Innovation and Development Conference and the Annual Meeting of the China Convention, Exhibition & Event Society. Additionally, delegations visited Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and other cities to engage closely with national industry associations and renowned exhibition organizations, successfully bringing projects such as the National Pharmaceutical Machinery Exposition and the 2024 Xiamen Department Store Exhibition to Xiamen, and actively pursuing key exhibitions like the China Dairy Exhibtion.
Meanwhile, Xiamen continues to strengthen policy support and guidance for the exhibition industry, optimizing the business environment. This year, the city launched the "2024 Brand Exhibition and Potential Exhibition Selection" and revised exhibition industry policies. The special funds for exhibition industry development were promptly disbursed, benefiting 113 exhibition projects from 71 exhibition enterprises in the first half of the year. The Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Commerce (Exhibition) also collaborated with the Exit-Entry Administration Bureau of the Xiamen Public Security Bureau to facilitate visa processes for exhibition participants. The number of overseas exhibitors at major brand exhibitions like the 24th Xiamen Stone Fair and the 2024 China Feed Industry Expo reached new highs, further enhancing the internationalization of Xiamen's exhibition industry.
A thriving exhibition industry ecosystem not only attracts more high-quality projects to Xiamen but also strengthens the city's path toward internationalization, branding, and specialization in the exhibition sector. "A new development pattern for the exhibition industry is rapidly taking shape. Xiamen will align with this trend, focusing on further enhancing the professionalism and business environment of its exhibition industry," said Yu Hao, Deputy Director of the Commerce Bureau and Director of the Exhibition Bureau. Moving forward, Xiamen will expand openness, actively engage in domestic and international exhibition promotion, and continually enhance the internationalization of the exhibition industry. Additionally, the city will strengthen the cultivation of exhibition entities, optimize the three major exhibition clusters, and continuously improve the exhibition industry's ecosystem and business environment.
