On May 13, the “Gathering Momentum, Enhancing Quality and Efficiency” 2025 Pudong New Area Exhibition Economy High-Quality Development Promotion Conference and Policy Release was held in Shanghai. The Pudong New Area Commerce Commission released “Several Measures for Promoting High-Quality Development of Exhibition Economy in Pudong New Area,” aiming to implement a comprehensive policy package addressing industry support, sector coordination, talent development, and service guarantees to showcase Pudong’s business environment and comprehensive advantages, further driving quality improvement and efficiency enhancement in Pudong’s exhibition economy.
Targeted Policy Package Promotes Exhibition Quality Upgrade
The Measures include nine provisions across three sections: cultivating high-quality exhibitions, enhancing driving effects, and strengthening service guarantees. After comprehensive evaluation, leading exhibitions, quality exhibitions, and innovative exhibitions will receive financial support of up to 1 million yuan, 600,000 yuan, and 300,000 yuan respectively.
“The Measures offer not only financial support but also a comprehensive policy package to further enhance the international and professional standards of Pudong’s exhibition industry,” said Cao Lei, Deputy Director of Pudong Commerce Commission. “While providing financial support to leading, quality, and innovative exhibitions, we also hope these exhibition companies will establish regional headquarters for multinational corporations in Pudong to elevate their capabilities and standards.”
Currently, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) and the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) have established representative offices in Pudong, and several renowned exhibition enterprises including Shanghai Sinoexpo Informa Markets International Exhibition Co., Ltd. have been recognized as headquarters enterprises.
International Profile Highlighted, Cultivating Fertile Ground for Exhibition Growth
Pudong New Area in Shanghai has consistently regarded the exhibition industry as an important pioneering sector, continuously cultivating industry entities and functional platforms, attracting a number of internationally influential exhibitions with high industry relevance to be held regularly in Pudong.
In 2024, Pudong New Area hosted 217 trade exhibitions covering 8.664 million square meters, accounting for nearly half of the city’s total. These exhibitions attracted 133,000 exhibitors and 8.034 million professional visitors, including 23 large-scale exhibitions exceeding 100,000 square meters, such as the Furniture China Fair. The Pudong International Exhibition accounted for 92.2% of the total number of exhibitions and 94.3% of the total exhibition area, highlighting its international profile.
“Shanghai, especially Pudong, is the largest exhibition market in Asia. I believe Pudong has all the key components for a thriving exhibition industry, including high-quality venues, high-quality exhibition organizers, and strong government support. When you combine all these elements, you drive positive development in the exhibition industry,” said Mark Cochrane, Asia-Pacific Regional Director of UFI.
In recent years, to promote high-quality development of Pudong’s exhibition economy and continuously enhance its driving effects, Pudong New Area has implemented a series of measures to strengthen exhibition investment promotion, promote integrated development of culture, tourism, commerce and exhibitions, and optimize the business environment for exhibitions. These include conducting targeted exhibition investment promotion; aligning quality cultural consumption exhibitions with major municipal and district activities and consumption periods; and establishing a coordination mechanism for Pudong’s exhibition industry with nine departments working together to provide one-stop services for intellectual property protection, rapid customs clearance for exhibits, and entry-exit convenience for exhibitors, while further regulating the service market to ensure safe, orderly, and healthy development of the exhibition industry.
