Sichuan province's capital, Chengdu, is promoting the development of its exhibition industry, with the aim of boosting its position as the national core city in western China, and a major international gathering to be held there next month will add to the momentum.

Chengdu, the sixth national core city recognized by the central government, has attracted an increasing number of significant international exhibitions.

National core cities are cities with strong economic and development potential - with rich cultural resources and political functions - that can support the development of their surrounding regions, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Chengdu will host the 22nd Session of the United Nations World Tourism Organization General Assembly between Sept 11 and 16.

UNWTO's General Assembly is a biennial event that represents the highest level of conventions in world tourism. Experts will report on the latest developments and forecast new trends in the global industry. It is the first time that the event will be held in central and western China.

The event will attract more than 1,500 participants including officials from UNWTO, ministers of tourism from over 150 member countries and other related international organizations. Participants will elect the new secretary-general of UNWTO during the proceedings.

Chengdu has hosted a series significant international events in 2017. The 96th China Food & Drinks Fair was held in March. The China-UAE Economic, Trade and Cultural Summit 2017 was staged in April. The 2017 Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair and the 18th International Furniture Fair Chengdu were held in May and June, respectively.

The 2017 Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair attracted over 1,200 participates from 47 countries, including four Nobel Prize winners, 20 renowned academics from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, as well as the heads of 53 leading international universities.

The fair covered an exhibition area of more than 40,000 square meters and attracted more than 600 companies and organizations. The numbers of exhibitors and the size of the exhibition areas were double those in 2016. Global innovation giants, such as General Electric and Siemens, demonstrated over 8,000 cutting-edge technologies.

Innovation-driven startups, organizations and groups brought over 1,000 projects to the fair. Many businesses, including Iflytek, have decided to launch their operations in Chengdu.

Adding to its success, the total value of contracts signed during the 2017 Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair hit 24 billion yuan ($3.6 billion).

The 2017 iWorld Digital World Expo was held in Chengdu on Aug 10. The digital expo was launched by the International Data Group in 1985. It is one of the most influential events in the global information technology sector. The fair, introduced in China in 2011, has been held in Chengdu twice.

"We are striving to expand the market in China. Chengdu has great influence in southwestern China and IDG has many investment projects in Chengdu," said Xu Zhou, vice-president of IDG Asia. "We have a positive attitude about Chengdu's investment environment and market."

Xu also said that the Chengdu government was making great inroads in developing an innovation and entrepreneurship city and a city with a strong position in the software industry, which would need international platforms such as iWorld.

"That's why we decided to organize iWorld in Chengdu," Xu said.

Xu added that IDG was very satisfied with the number of exhibitors, the overall performance of the exhibition and the services in Chengdu.

"Chengdu has become an important city that supports the development of the exhibition industry in western China," said Wang Qingdao, deputy head of the China Convention, Exhibition and Event Society.

"It will be the fourth famous exhibition city in China after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou."

Wang said that Chengdu has successfully hosted many conventions, such as the Chengdu Fortune Global Forum, the World Route and the World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention. Those conventions not only brought economic and social benefits to the city but also promoted the local exhibition industry's upgrade and transformation.

Chengdu's exhibition industry has reported significant breakthroughs over the past five years. In 2016, 539 exhibitions were held in the city, of which 130 were international exhibitions. Last year the exhibition industry's total income reached 83 billion yuan, up 17.3 percent year-on-year.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/31/2017 page19)