GUANGZHOU -- The South China city of Guangzhou has seen a full recovery of the exhibition industry, following a disruption caused by the COVID-19 epidemic in the first half-year.

Figures available from the municipal bureau of commerce on Wednesday suggested that from the beginning of July to August 11, the city's exhibition area of Pazhou hosted 36 exhibitions, with a total exhibition area of 900,000 square meters. The events drew about 700,000 exhibitors and visitors.

The exhibitions covered fields from building decoration, biomedical equipment, industrial automation, automobiles, environmental protection to cultural tourism and leisure and entertainment, providing procurement, exchange and cooperation platforms for the real economy.

The restart of the exhibition industry has spurred up the city's hotel industry and comprehensive consumption, according to the bureau.

Guangzhou held 690 exhibitions in 2019, with a total exhibition area of 10.24 million square meters, both ranking second among Chinese cities.

However, the city's exhibition industry ground to a halt at the end of January due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic. A total of 112 exhibitions originally planned between February and June had to be postponed or canceled.

In June, the 127th Canton Fair, China's largest export fair held in Guangzhou, moved online for the first time in its decades of history.

An expo of products meant for epidemic control held in Guangzhou in mid-June became the first sign of the restart of the exhibition industry. More than 600 enterprises participated in the two-day international expo with an exhibition area of 36,000 square meters, drawing 18,000 buyers.