Expos and conventions propel Guiyang's economy

This year's alcoholic beverages expo explores the integration of online and offline exhibition formats. [Photo/ddcpc.cn]

Guiyang, the capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, achieved an overall economic efficiency of 21.3 billion yuan ($3.11 billion) through the 986 exhibitions and convention activities held last year.

The statistic was revealed at the Exhibition Economy Development Forum held on Sept 10 as part of this year's China (Guizhou) International Alcoholic Beverages Expo, which runs from Sept 9 to 13 in Guiyang.

Experts from national trade promotion commissions and expo bureaus discussed the innovation and development of a win-win exhibition economy during the forum.

Due to the novel coronavirus epidemic, the exhibition and convention industry has sped up the integration of online events and offline events, as demonstrated by this year's alcohol expo.

In recent years, Guiyang has maintained rapid growth and earned the title of "China's best performance city" for four consecutive years.

Relying on cool weather, abundant natural resources and good traffic, Guiyang continues to improve its online and offline infrastructure for the exhibition and convention industry.

Since the beginning of this year, Guiyang has launched policies to enhance support for the exhibition and convention industry's healthy development during the epidemic.

Guiyang has also optimized the exhibition and convention industry's business environment by simplifying examination and approval services.

Through the development of the exhibition and convention industry, Guiyang aims to further the high-quality development of emerging industries, enhance the attractiveness of exhibition projects and introduce more domestically and internationally famous exhibitions to the city.

According to Zhang Hanlin, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade's Guizhou branch, Guizhou has achieved impressive progress in developing its exhibition and convention industry by capitalizing on the benefits of the new economy.

Well-known exhibitions and forums such as the alcoholic beverages expo, Eco Forum Global, China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week, Big Data Expo and International Mountain Tourism Conference have become professional platforms for global industrial exchanges and cooperation, Zhang added.