The city of Xiamen in Fujian province will become the focal point of China's convention and exhibition industry on Sept 8, with the opening of the 2015 China International Fair for Investment & Trade.

To streamline proceedings at the event, the fair's organizer, the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Convention and Exhibition Affairs, introduced a big-data technology-based system in May. The system will help better manage exhibitor and visitor services.

The system can quickly recognize the requests of clients and offer services accordingly through a data mining center. According to the bureau chief Wang Qiongwen, the system has come a long way to improve client experience with its high efficiency and accurate information processing.

The bureau has launched an online platform for the fair (icifit.com) to present projects and enable matchmaking. A mobile application is also available on both Android and iOS platforms.

Wang said that the convention and exhibition industry is a 200-year-old business. He added that the industry has now entered the information era and become a major part of the modern service sector.

Starting in 2014, Xiamen rolled out a series of plans to digitize the convention and exhibition industry.

The convention and exhibition industry experienced a boom in 2014 and generated revenues of 27.6 billion yuan ($4.32 billion) for the city.

The bureau launched the Public Information Service Platform of Xiamen Convention and Exhibition Industry on June 30, 2015. The platform congregates events updates, agency and facility information and industry analysis. Xiamen is the second city in China to have installed such system, following Shanghai.

The adoption of social network platforms and mobile client applications allowed Xiamen's convention and exhibition industry to reach new heights.

In first half of 2015, Xiamen hosted 70 exhibitions, 10.23 percent more than the same period last year; and 3,158 meetings, 77.22 percent more than last year. The convention and exhibition sector accounted for 1.43 billion yuan in revenues in the first half of 2015, rising 17.5 percent from the same period last year.

The growth in convention and exhibition business has helped drive accommodation, retail and tourism sectors. Regarded as green industries, conventions and exhibitions are considered to be vital in the city's sustainable economic development.

Statistics show that visitors coming to Xiamen to attend conventions and exhibitions stay at the city for an average of 4.8 days, while other visitors stay for an average of 2.8 days. Domestic business personnel spend 5,700 yuan each day on average, while international business personnel spend 14,000 yuan each day.