The 21st National Wedding Props, Festive Supplies & Artificial Flowers Fair is held in Yiwu. [Photo/Tide News]
The China Convention/Exhibition/Event Society recently unveiled the "2024 China Exhibition Data Statistics Report", highlighting Yiwu's continued dominance in comprehensive exhibition strength among county-level cities nationwide.
This is the 10th year that the county-level city in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, has maintained its leading position.
Yiwu's exhibition sector has flourished in tandem with the market, evolving from small-scale events to a diverse array of exhibitions. This growth strategy, focusing on the symbiotic relationship between trade and exhibitions, has propelled the city's exhibition economy to new heights.
In 2024, Yiwu hosted 55 exhibitions spanning 1.12 million square meters, attracting 1.78 million buyers from more than 100 countries and regions. The trade volume reached 37.51 billion yuan ($5.16 billion), marking a 6.29 percent increase year-on-year.
The momentum continued into the first quarter of 2025, with Yiwu hosting nine economic and trade exhibitions, representing a 12.5 percent year-on-year growth. The total exhibition area expanded to 182,600 square meters, drawing over 200,000 professional buyers and generating 3.36 billion yuan, a 20 percent increase from the previous year.
This year's first exhibition, the 21st National Wedding Props, Festive Supplies & Artificial Flowers Fair, quadrupled in size to 90,000 square meters from that in 2021, attracting 1,700 companies.
The exhibitions not only fuel demand but also spur growth in ancillary industries like catering, accommodation, transportation, and tourism, showing a substantial ripple effect, said Zhong Jiamei, secretary-general of the Yiwu Exhibition Industry Association.
