The State of the Exhibition Industry in China

Abstract

China's exhibition industry has experienced rapid growth for the past two decades, and it is now entering a period of consolidation and restructuring. This article provides a critical assessment of Asia's largest exhibition market. It considers its current problems and potential prospects by analyzing and synthesizing extant literature in both Chinese and English from a wide variety of sources, including print and online media, personal accounts, and interviews. Furthermore, the effect of the pending market consolidation on exhibition operation, venue management, and destination development is examined. China is still regarded as a key emerging market internationally. Thus, experiences and lessons learned from its exhibition development can serve as a useful reference to other emerging markets and should be of interest to both academics and practitioners.