The eastern coastal city of Qingdao was listed among the "Most Competitive Exhibition Cities in China" at the 2021 China Convention and Exhibition City Industry Cooperation Summit, which was recently held in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

Qingdao is named the "Most Competitive Exhibition City" at the 2021 China Convention and Exhibition City Industry Cooperation Summit, which was recently held in Chengdu. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

The Competitiveness Index Report of China's Urban Convention and Exhibition Industry was first published in October 2016 by the China Convention and Exhibition Society and its Chengdu Research Center based on four core elements: the competitiveness of the urban convention and exhibition macro environment; urban convention and exhibition professionals; urban convention and exhibition education; as well as the service competitiveness of urban convention and exhibition competent government departments.

In recent years, Qingdao's convention and exhibition industry has achieved steady development by taking advantage of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's 2018 Qingdao summit.

After the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, Qingdao responded quickly, launching a series of measures and policies to support the development of the convention and exhibition industry via both online and offline channels. The city held more than 300 large-scale exhibitions, forums, and festival activities in seven months, involving an exhibition area of 3.11 million square meters, ranking among the top six cities in China. The events generated over 100 billion yuan ($15.63 billion) in intended investment and played a positive role in advancing local high-quality development.

Since the beginning of this year, Qingdao's convention and exhibition industry continues to maintain strong development moment. To date, nearly 300 exhibition activities have been held.