At least 300,000 job seekers, many of them university graduates, caused massive traffic jams as they swarmed to the China International Exhibition Centre in February. Those lucky enough to make it in after paying the 10 yuan (US$1.2) admission ticket had to fight each other to reach the recruiters' stalls, with many failing to even get that far.

The race is now on across the country to build the biggest and best facilities in order to cash in on the lucrative convention and exhibition business. And the spin-off benefits to other businesses, including tourism, catering, entertainment, advertising and logistics are also huge.

Among mainland cities, Beijing, being the nation's capital, has always had the advantage as the natural choice for expositions and conventions. The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) estimates that Beijing has the largest share of the nation's convention and exhibition business, standing at 25 percent, followed by Shanghai with 18 percent and Guangzhou with 8 percent.

And Hong Kong, which was not included in the council's estimates, is also making an all-out effort to retain its traditional role as the mainland's shop window. Its strength lies mainly in its modern facilities and its position as one of Asia's most important air traffic hubs.

But the lure of Beijing is increasing as China is working to improve its business environment in accordance with its commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The capital city is usually the first choice when it comes to showcasing the opportunities arising from the fast pace of market opening.

Of the 250 companies in the nation qualified to hold large-scale conventions and exhibitions, 130 are based in Beijing.

Beijing hosted 753 national and international conferences and 1,298 exhibitions in 2002. These events generated a total revenue of 2.08 billion yuan (US$250.6 million). Some of these shows, notably the China (Beijing) High-Tech Expo, which was first held in 1998, have developed into major annual events.

The Beijing Exposition Industrial Association estimates that the convention and exhibition industry created more than 17,000 new jobs in the capital in 2003. The output per employee in the industry amounted to US$41,000, 10 times the city's per capita GDP (gross domestic product).

Beijing has earmarked 5 billion yuan (US$602 million) for the construction of a new international exposition center in the northern part of the city in order to meet the expected requirements of the 2008 Olympics. The 460,000-square-metre facility is being built on a 670,000-square-metre site.

"The center is styled after the Munich Exhibition Hall in Germany," says Liang Wen, vice-president of the International Exhibition Center Group responsible for the design and construction of the structure. "Each of the center's exhibition halls will be 140 meters long and 70 meters wide with a pillar in the middle," he says.

The closest rival to Beijing as the nation's premier convention and exhibition center is Shanghai. Not only is it East China's most important economic, financial and cultural center, but it is also widely regarded as the mainland's most cosmopolitan city.

Shanghai began making a serious bid for the convention and exhibition business in the early 1990s, when it embarked on a construction spree. The most impressive exhibition facilities completed then include the International Exhibition Center, the World Trade Plaza, the Agriculture Exhibition Center and the Everbright Conference Center.

Since then, the city has won the heated contests to host several major international events that have made it one of the world's best cities in which to hold a convention. These events included the 1999 Fortune Global Forum and the 2001 APEC meetings. Since then, the city has also successfully bid for the 2010 World Exposition. This victory is seen as a recognition of the world-class facilities offered by Shanghai.

To prepare for this and other major events, Shanghai is building bigger and better facilities. Chief among those is the joint project to build a new international convention and exhibition center in the city's new financial district of Pudong with German exposition companies in Hannover and Dusseldorf. The structure is expected to be the largest on the mainland after its completion.

Meanwhile, Guangzhou in South China is also gearing up to stake its claim as a viable host for large-scale international events. Putting up a show is, of course, nothing new for the provincial capital of the prosperous Guangdong Province. It has been hosting the traditional semi-annual Chinese Export Commodities Fair since it was launched in 1957. Until China launched its reform and opening policies in 1978, these fairs provided the only opportunities for many foreign buyers to have face-to-face business meetings with their Chinese suppliers.

The rapid pace of economic reform and market opening has not undermined the importance of the fairs, which are actually attended by increasing numbers of foreign business people. The latest two attracted a total of 10,195 enterprises and 40 trade delegations from home and abroad. More than 150,000 overseas buyers attended those two fairs, with the combined volume of business conducted there amounting to around 3 billion yuan (US$361 million).

Guangzhou should build on the success of those trade fairs to attract other big conventions and exhibitions, says Yue Zude, senior consultant with the International Exhibition Center Group.

As a premier gateway to the mainland, Hong Kong has long been an established center for major international conventions and exhibitions. The total income from Hong Kong's exposition industry amounted to HK$7.3 billion (US$939.5 million) in 2002, only slightly behind the mainland's total of 8 billion yuan (US$963 million), according to latest figures from the Trade Development Council.

Wanting their share of the pie, many other mainland cities are rushing to build their own convention facilities. They include Dalian in Liaoning Province, Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Qingdao in Shandong Province, Xiamen in Fujian Province, Kunming in Yunnan Province and the Shenzhen special economic zone in Guangdong.

Industry sources warn that the rush to build could lead to over supply which will hurt the smaller inland cities. "There should be some planning and co-ordination between cities," says Lin Ning, an official at the CCPIT exhibition department.

There are a total of 150 large facilities suitable for large-scale conventions and exhibitions. They have a combined floor space in excess of 2 million square meters. When all the planned projects are completed in around the next five years, China will top the world in terms of exhibition space.

"Many of the exhibition halls that we have now are finding little use," says Lin. He suggests that efforts should be concentrated on building Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou into "national level" exhibition centers, while developing no more than other 10 cities into regional centers.

"You have to understand that despite the potential of the industry, not all cities are suitable for hosting large-scale conventions and exhibitions," he adds. These cities may not have the supporting infrastructure facilities or they do not deserve a large enough market to attract exhibitors, he says.

There is also a need to upgrade the quality of the organizers who are mainly small- to medium-sized operators with little experience in holding large-scale events. Yue says that these operators should be encouraged to merge into larger enterprises with the necessary resources to take on big projects.

China Exhibition Center Group has made some progress in consolidation through acquisitions and diversification. It has acquired several smaller exhibition organizers in Beijing and has branched out into such related businesses as design, logistics, catering and advertising.

Some others are forging joint ventures with foreign companies to help improve their expertise. For example, the Shanghai International Exposition recently set up a joint venture with Bologna Exhibition of Italy to engage specifically in exhibitions of building materials in China and abroad.

The Shenzhen government has invited international tenders for the management of the Shenzhen Hi-Tech Trading Fair Center and the Shenzhen New Convention and Exhibition Center. German firm Kerlong Exhibition, one of the world's four largest exhibition organizers, has also separately established a long-term strategic co-operation project with the Shenzhen International Furniture Fair.

"The establishment of a national association is also required to set industry standards and co-ordinate the activities of members to avoid any possible overlapping," said Lin.

Initiatives have been taken by various institutions to help ensure the industry's sustainable development. For instance, Beijing Foreign Studies University plans to establish a convention and exhibition department, the first of its kind in China, in order to train qualified professionals. The Convention and Exhibition Research Center, affiliated with the Beijing Urban Development Research Institute was established to monitor the industry. Other organizations including the China Convention and Exhibition Economy Research Center under the Ministry of Commerce and a research center set up by the CCPIT jointly with Shanghai Jiaotong University.

(China Daily February 26, 2004)