The spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic globally has caused severe damage to the global exhibition industry.
In China, the major exhibitions still burst out with strong vitality.
The Service Trade Fair, the China International Import Expo, the Canton Fair, the High-tech Fair, the Yiwu Fair, and the China-ASEAN Expo will allow China's manufacturing and Chinese services to go out, and also bring in world innovation and the world market.
Taking Guangzhou as an example, since the resumption of the exhibition in July, more than 100 offline exhibitions have been held in multiple pazhou pazhou pavilions in Guangzhou in the third quarter, and the number of exhibitors has reached about 2 million.
Two "horses" galloping at the China exhibition
In the Russian theme pavilion on the site of the 25th Autumn Guangzhou International Art Fair, two horses, one brown and the other white, are galloping across the grassland and over the mountain.
This is an oil painting by a Ukrainian artist.
△Ukrainian artists' oil paintings are exhibited at the Art Fair
Liu Hai, the artistic director of the Russian theme museum, is 31 years old this year and is a doctor of art from the Moscow State Academy of Arts and Crafts.
Liu Hai told the Voice of China that with the continuous extension of the Silk Road Economic Belt in recent years, more and more "horses" have ran into Chinese galleries from the grasslands of Eastern Europe through the bridge of the exhibition.
Liu Hai: "These painters are basically my teachers and seniors. They also want to enter the Chinese market. I think (the market) has great potential and we are very confident to do it well. Let us know more about northern Russia. National painting characteristics."
Liu Hai said that doing exhibitions is also about popularizing art.
Both art and collectors need time to develop.
Once the exhibition is interrupted, "As soon as you stop seeing it, you will soon disappear."
Last year, at the 24th Guangzhou Art Fair, Liu Hai invited more than 40 Russian artists to China for an exhibition for the first time. Many paintings have been recognized by Chinese collectors. Everyone will meet in China next year.
△ At the 24th Art Fair in 2019, Russian painters came to Guangzhou to hold exhibitions.
However, the sudden outbreak of new crown pneumonia delayed the painting exhibition contract for more than half a year.
The domestic market that just opened has no choice but to press the pause button.
Liu Hai: "Originally, we were going to participate in the Spring Art Fair. Before (plan) we had to do a tour in Taiyuan, Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Nanjing, and (and) several cities. All have stopped since the epidemic."
The postponement and cancellation rate of overseas exhibitions exceeds 90%
Fortunately, with the normalization and precision of epidemic prevention and control, since June this year, China has become the first main position to resume offline exhibitions. Liu Hai began to arrange the physical painting exhibition of the Guangzhou Art Fair a few months in advance.
In an interview with Voice of China, Sun Gang, senior vice president of Reed Exhibitions, the world's largest exhibition organizer, said that the postponement and cancellation rate of overseas exhibitions this year has reached more than 90%.
△From food and beverage to smart manufacturing, various exhibitions are the first to resume in China.
Sun Gang: "From a global point of view, (currently) exhibitions in developed countries like Europe and the United States have basically been closed. They resumed their exhibitions much later than we did. Starting in June, Reed Exhibitions has successively started a number of exhibitions. It started in Shanghai, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Dongguan and other places. Even if a few sporadic epidemics occurred this year, there was no large-scale suspension of exhibitions, which caused the entire city’s exhibition industry to stop. I think this is a very remarkable progress. This is what we have done best in China."
Will online exhibitions replace offline exhibitions?
Affected by the epidemic, the entire exhibition industry has been deeply "branded in 2020", and how to link online and offline has become a hot topic.
The Canton Fair, a veteran exhibition with a history of more than 60 years, meets on the cloud, and major national exhibitions such as the China International Import Expo and the Service Trade Fair are also actively embracing digital transformation.
For example, at the 17th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, Guangxi, Thai merchants who could not be present could remotely participate in the introduction of products online, and the Chinese agents of Indonesian products on the spot could also broadcast live and expand their influence.
On-site staff: "Now tell us about your participation in this time."
Mr. Ai, a Thai businessman: "Because it is the epidemic that we can’t go back, so we will send a domestic agent to the expo to exhibit our Thai latex. We also look forward to the increase in sales so that domestic (people) can use real Thai latex. pillow."
Indonesian exhibitor: "This online and offline sales can increase visibility, and if we can reach the ASEAN (level), it can also greatly increase the visibility. Many people now come to our boss and want to cooperate with us."
Online shopping, offline accurate chat, and the virtual reality mode combined with real scenes through virtual venues, VR live broadcasts, intelligent simultaneous interpretation, etc., have become the two major points of integration of online and offline exhibitions.
According to Sun Gang, online exhibitions have bridged the "breakpoint" of communication, but a stable and sustainable profit model has not yet been explored. It is only a supplement to offline exhibitions for the time being, and it is difficult to form a disruptive impact on offline exhibitions.
△In December, Guangzhou Pazhou, multiple exhibitions were held simultaneously.
Sun Gang further introduced that the vitality of the traditional exhibition format lies in the communication between people. Face-to-face conversations are helpful for customer care, the establishment of trust relationships, order placement, and trade cooperation.
He said, "The most ideal way is to use the offline exhibition as the basic support, and then superimpose it into the service function of the online exhibition."
During the worst period of the epidemic, Liu Hai also considered moving Russian galleries online, but the thin screen between sellers and buyers was not easy to penetrate.
Liu Hai: "Online effects are not very good. After the paintings were sent, maybe you used warm light when shooting, and then the client may have cold light. Great changes have taken place. He thinks it’s someone else’s copy. The product? Why is it different from the photo I saw? There are such small frictions and misunderstandings. As far as I know, even if you are online, the collector will contact you to see the original painting, because the photos and paintings are Different."
Double circulation inside and outside, "the west is not bright, the east is bright"
At the Foshan International Intelligent Robot Expo in Guangdong, a group of children were escorted by their parents running after the intelligent robot dog in the venue.
The exhibition site was very popular.
According to Xu Junjia, an exhibitor of the exhibition and the Chinese agent of Kawasaki Robotics in Japan, thanks to the progress of my country's resumption of work and production, foreign companies voted with their feet and orders returned. This year, domestic companies bucked the trend, and the order volume even increased by 100%.
In an interview with China Voice, Sun Gang, senior vice president of Reed Exhibitions Greater China, said that since the beginning of this year, the number of overseas exhibitors at exhibitions with a higher degree of internationalization has been affected. However, due to the strong domestic demand market in some manufacturing regional exhibitions, Usher in new development opportunities.
The domestic and foreign markets are like two fast horses, "the West is not bright, the East is bright."
Sun Gang revealed that the 2020 Reed Exhibitions Greater China region will play an important role in the revenue recovery of the headquarters. Next year, the UK headquarters will also increase investment in China.
Sun Gang: "I can say with great pride that China's landscape in the global exhibition industry is unique. This is also the mark of the exhibition industry in 2020. I predict that the situation next year will be more conducive to the further recovery and development of China's exhibition industry."
In Guangzhou Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center, the world seems to be spread out, and every exhibition hall faces the sea.
Across the baffles, each booth is an open door, telling the story of the integration of inside and outside.
Three works of Liu Hai were also collected by Guangdong collectors at the art fair.
One of the paintings was created in June this year in the suburbs of St. Petersburg: after a heavy rain, the clouds cleared, and a ray of sunlight shone back to the earth, exuding the fragrance of earth and grass.
Voice of China Review
In 2020, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has severely impacted the global exhibition industry.
On the premise of ensuring the safety of epidemic prevention, my country International Import Expo, Service Trade Fair, China-ASEAN Expo and other international large-scale exhibitions are still held as scheduled. This is a weather vane for the domestic market, a barometer of the real economy, and a reassurance for foreign businessmen Every exhibition and every booth embodies China's sincere desire to share market opportunities with the world and promote the recovery of the world economy.
"The scenery is unique here" is not the end.
The exhibition is the glue of the supply chain and trade chain, and it is also the transfer station of the "dual cycle". Only by unswervingly expanding and opening up in an all-round way, can the exhibition economy develop with high quality, and make "single beauty and beauty" become "beautiful beauty". "Together", let the Chinese market become a world market, a shared market, and everyone’s market, injecting more positive energy into the international community.