Corporate Travel and Exhibition Industry in China: Statistics and Facts 2026

The China exhibition and business travel economy in numbers

China combines two of the largest business event markets in the world: a vast domestic trade fair industry and one of the two largest pools of business travel spending. According to the Annual Report on the China Exhibition Industry published by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), 3,844 economic and trade exhibitions were held in China in 2024, covering 155 million square metres. The average show used 40,300 square metres.

The industry is closely tied to Chinese manufacturing and exports. Shows such as the Canton Fair in Guangzhou connect factories with overseas buyers, while the China International Import Expo in Shanghai promotes imports into China. Business travel links these events to the wider economy: GBTA estimates Chinese business travel spending at 373.1 billion dollars in 2025. The size of the economy behind this activity is covered in our China GDP report.

Exhibition space: from 130.2 million to 155 million square metres

Exhibition area is the main measure of the size of the industry, because it captures both the number of shows and their scale. China used 130.24 million square metres of exhibition space in 2019. The pandemic cut this to 55.52 million square metres in 2022, when many shows were cancelled. Activity rebounded to 141 million square metres in 2023, 8 percent above 2019, and to a record 155 million square metres in 2024.

Record space: exhibition area reached 155 million square metres in 2024, 19 percent above 2019 and almost three times the 2022 low.

The growth in area has come from larger shows, not more of them. The CCPIT reports that average exhibition size rose from 35,900 square metres in 2023 to 40,300 square metres in 2024. Organisers are merging smaller shows, adding halls to successful ones and concentrating industries into single flagship events, a pattern also seen at the largest European trade fair venues.

Number of exhibitions: 3,844 in 2024, flat on 2023

The number of economic and trade exhibitions tells a different story from area. China held 3,547 exhibitions in 2019 and only 1,807 in 2022. The count jumped to 3,923 in 2023, 10.6 percent above 2019, as postponed shows returned. In 2024 it eased slightly to 3,844, which official reports describe as roughly flat. The shift in 2024 was in content: 1,064 of the shows were industrial and technology expos, up 63.4 percent, reflecting government priorities for advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and new energy.

Fewer but bigger: the number of exhibitions fell 2 percent to 3,844 in 2024 while total space rose 10.1 percent.

Regional hubs: three clusters hold 62 percent of space

Exhibitions are highly concentrated in three coastal economic regions. In 2024, the Yangtze River Delta around Shanghai hosted 1,061 exhibitions using 45.08 million square metres, 29.1 percent of national space. The Pearl River Delta around Guangzhou and Shenzhen hosted 637 exhibitions with 35.83 million square metres, or 23.1 percent. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region hosted 413 exhibitions with 15.34 million square metres, or 9.9 percent. Together, they accounted for 54.9 percent of exhibitions and 62.1 percent of area.

Shanghai region leads: the Yangtze River Delta held 45.08 million square metres, 29.1 percent of all exhibition space in China.

The concentration is even higher by area than by count, because the largest venues are in these three clusters. Shows in the Pearl River Delta average about 56,000 square metres, well above the national average of 40,300 square metres, which reflects the large consumer goods, electronics and furniture fairs held in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Shows in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei are smaller on average, at about 37,000 square metres, as the capital hosts more conferences and specialist technology events.

By broad region, the east dominates. In 2023, eastern China hosted 2,678 exhibitions with 103.85 million square metres, 68.3 percent of the national count. Western China hosted 487 exhibitions with 16.7 million square metres, central China 476 with 14.68 million square metres and the northeast 282 with 6.01 million square metres. By 2024 the eastern share of area had reached 72.5 percent, with 2,586 exhibitions and 113 million square metres.

East dominates: eastern China used 103.85 million square metres in 2023, more than six times the western region.

Venues: 13.46 million square metres of indoor space

China has built the largest stock of exhibition halls in the world. The CCPIT puts total indoor exhibition space at about 13.46 million square metres in 2024. In 2023, 194 venues were actively hosting exhibitions; 40 hosted at least 30 exhibitions, and 35 each handled more than 1 million square metres of exhibition area over the year. Major complexes include the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, the Canton Fair Complex in Guangzhou and the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center.

International recognition is growing. China had 253 member companies of UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, in 2024, up 10 percent, and 265 UFI-certified exhibition projects, up 20 percent. Shanghai had 36 member companies, Beijing 32 and Shenzhen 20. The hotels that serve these venues are covered in our hotel industry in China report.

Outbound exhibitions: 1,166 projects in 60 countries

Chinese companies are also exhibiting abroad in growing numbers. In 2024, approved organisers carried out 1,166 overseas exhibition projects, up 29.4 percent, with 50,100 participating enterprises, up 26.3 percent, and 703,700 square metres of space, up 23.0 percent, across 60 countries and regions. In 2023 there had been 900 projects with more than 39,600 enterprises in 55 countries.

Asia first, Europe second: 448 of 1,166 overseas projects were in Asia and 261 in Western Europe in 2024.

By country, Germany was the top destination with 156 projects, followed by the United States with 139 and Russia with 130. Germany ranks first because it hosts many of the leading global trade fairs for machinery, electronics and consumer goods. Those German fairs fill city hotels in Frankfurt, Munich and Hanover, as the German overnight stay figures show.

Canton Fair and CIIE: 310,000 buyers and 83.5 billion dollars of deals

Two national flagship fairs show the scale of the largest events. The 138th China Import and Export Fair, known as the Canton Fair, held in Guangzhou in autumn 2025, attracted more than 310,000 overseas buyers from 223 countries and regions, 7.5 percent more than the previous session, and recorded 25.65 billion dollars of on-site intended export deals. It used 1.55 million square metres of space. Buyers from the EU rose 32.7 percent and from the United States 14 percent.

The buyer mix at the Canton Fair shows where Chinese exporters are finding demand. Of the 310,000 overseas buyers at the 138th session, about 214,000, or 69 percent, came from countries that are Belt and Road partners, up 9.4 percent, and more than 60 percent of intended deals were with these countries. Growth was also strong from developed markets: buyers from the EU rose 32.7 percent, from Brazil 33.2 percent, from the United States 14 percent and from the Middle East 13.9 percent. The fair hosted 550 buyer delegations, up 7.9 percent, and 158 business organisations, up 12 percent.

The 8th China International Import Expo, held in Shanghai in November 2025, recorded 83.49 billion dollars of intended deals, up 4.4 percent. It brought together 4,108 exhibitors from 138 countries and regions, including 290 Fortune Global 500 companies, on more than 367,000 square metres, with over 460,000 registered visitors, up 7 percent, and 461 new product launches.

For exhibition organisers and venue owners, the most important number is utilisation. With 13.46 million square metres of indoor space and 155 million square metres of exhibition area in 2024, the average square metre of hall space was booked about 11.5 times over the year. That average hides large differences: the 35 venues that each handled more than 1 million square metres are heavily used, while many newer halls in smaller cities host only a few shows a year.

CIIE over eight editions: from 57.8 to 83.5 billion dollars

The China International Import Expo offers a rare consistent time series for a single Chinese business event. Intended deals rose from 57.83 billion dollars at the first expo in 2018 to 71.13 billion dollars in 2019 and 72.62 billion dollars in 2020, when the event went ahead under pandemic controls. They dipped to 70.7 billion dollars in 2021, recovered to 73.52 billion dollars in 2022 and reached 78.41 billion dollars in 2023, 80.01 billion dollars in 2024 and a record 83.49 billion dollars in 2025.

Up 44 percent since 2018: CIIE intended deals grew from 57.83 billion dollars at the first edition to 83.49 billion dollars in 2025.

The steady rise since 2021 contrasts with the swings in the wider exhibition industry, which collapsed in 2022. The CIIE is a government-organised flagship with guaranteed participation by large state buyers, so its deal value depends more on policy than on the business cycle. Intended deals are also tentative, so they indicate purchasing intent rather than actual imports.

These events sit inside one of the two largest business travel markets in the world. GBTA estimates Chinese business travel spending at 373.1 billion dollars in 2025, second only to the United States, with growth of just 2 percent. Much of this travel is domestic, carried by high-speed rail between provincial capitals. How the global ranking of business travel markets compares is covered in our business travel in Europe report, the US market in our business travel in the US report and the largest other Asian market in our business travel in Japan report.

Foreign visitors: 41.1 million entries, 40 percent for business

Visa policy has become a major driver of foreign business travel to China. The National Immigration Administration reported 30.08 million visa-free entries by foreign nationals in 2025, up 49.5 percent, equal to 73.1 percent of all foreign entries. That implies about 41.1 million foreign entries in total. Nearly 40 percent of visa-free visitors cited business activities or exhibitions as the purpose, and 33 percent cited tourism.

Visa-free dominates: 30.08 million of about 41.1 million foreign entries in 2025, or 73.1 percent, were visa-free.

China extended unilateral visa-free entry to more countries through 2024 and 2025, added Canada and the United Kingdom in February 2026, and lengthened visa-free transit stays from 144 to 240 hours. These changes make it easier for buyers to visit fairs such as the Canton Fair at short notice, and they explain part of the 7.5 percent rise in overseas buyers there. China still trails the leading destinations for all international arrivals, as the global arrivals ranking shows.

Domestic travel: 6.5 billion trips and 6.3 trillion yuan

Business travel in China sits within a very large domestic travel market. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism reported more than 6.5 billion domestic trips in 2025, up more than 16 percent, and domestic tourism spending of 6.3 trillion yuan, up 9.5 percent. The figures cover all purposes, so business trips are a subset. During the nine-day Spring Festival holiday in February 2026 alone, residents made 596 million trips and spent more than 800 billion yuan.

Spending per trip is modest by international standards, at under 1,000 yuan on average, which reflects the large share of short, low-cost trips by rail and road. For exhibition organisers, this domestic base matters more than foreign visitors: most of the millions of visitors at Chinese trade fairs come from within China. Global travel trends are covered in our global tourism report.

Outlook: bigger shows, more foreign buyers, slower spending growth

The latest figures point in three directions. First, the exhibition industry is consolidating: space grew 10.1 percent in 2024 while the number of shows was flat, and industrial and technology expos grew fastest. Second, foreign participation is rising again, helped by visa-free entry, with overseas buyers at the Canton Fair and visitors at the CIIE both up about 7 percent in 2025. Third, business travel spending in US dollar terms is growing only slowly, at 2 percent in 2025.

Risks include trade tensions with the United States and Europe, which could reduce foreign buyers at export fairs, overcapacity in newly built venues in smaller cities, and weaker domestic demand. On the other hand, the rapid growth of outbound exhibitions, up 29.4 percent in 2024, shows Chinese companies taking the trade fair model abroad. The CCPIT annual report for 2025 data will show whether the record 155 million square metres was exceeded. Until then, the 2024 figures remain the latest official measure, and the Canton Fair, CIIE and immigration data for 2025 are the best guide to the direction of travel: more foreign buyers, larger flagship events and steady but slower growth in business travel spending.

China exhibitions and business travel in numbers

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