The exhibition and convention industry in Changchun, the capital of China's Jilin province, has been "soaring over the last five years", and now accounts for a major part of the city's service sector, according to the head of its exposition office.

The city held nearly 700 exhibitions and conferences during that period of time, bringing in about 5.5 billion yuan ($857 million), Song Lihua, the office head, said.

The industry now accounts for about 14 percent of the city's service sector by volume, up from less than 5 percent as recently as 2005.

Two prominent examples of this activity are the 12th International Sculpture Symposium, and the eighth Changchun International Auto Expo, which started this month.

The industry has also produced a number of brand names, such as the Changchun Film Festival, Jilin Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo, Changchun Agricultural Fair, and the Changchun Ice and Snow Festival.

This has made Changchun a national leader in the exhibition and convention business, with more than 80 national awards, since 2005. It has been called one of the most influential and potential exhibition and convention cities for five years running.

It played host to 167 exhibitions and conferences last year, bringing in about 2.1 billion yuan in revenues, and 18.8 billion yuan more for other related industries.

Under the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), Changchun was able to welcome many high-ranking company executives and VIPs, including China's President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, who made an appearance at the sixth Asian Winter Games, in 2007.

The city now has six exhibition centers, with more than 600,000 square meters of floor space, and nearly 10 venues for large-scale conferences, with more than 40,000 sq m of floor space.

Still the city government is aiming even higher for the coming years, with hopes of eventually holding at least 334 exhibitions and conferences by 2015. This is expected to include seven or eight national and international events. The income from the industry is expected to reach 4.8 billion yuan.

In this way, the government plans to improve its key industries, such as auto making, food processing, biomedicine, winter tourism, and film, as well.

(China Daily 07/27/2011 page14)