Guangzhou has included the development of the exhibition industry in its 11th Five-Year Programme for the service sector. The government will consolidate the city掇 exhibition resources, and all small- and medium-scale government exhibitions with promising potential will be merged into the Guangzhou Expo, which will be developed into an incubator for specialised fairs. The government will also take steps to accelerate the establishment of the Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Group and set up customs bonded warehouses for international exhibits, improve the city掇 exhibition environment, protect exhibitiors' intellectual property rights and implement preferential measures on taxation related to exhibition venue rental and participation fee.

In addition, the government has initiated discussions with high schools on launching academic programmes to groom talents for the exhibition industry. By 2010, exhibitions are expected to become a pillar industry of Guangzhou's economy, with direct income forecast to reach Rmb3 billion, making up 5% of the city掇 total GDP, and employing a workforce of 500,000.

At present, wastage in Guangzhou's exhibition resources is evident as exhibitions duplicate and exhibition schedules clash. Cut-throat competition in rental also exists among the city's many exhibition venues. Moreover, similar types of exhibitions are often held concurrently in the China Export Commodities Fairground and the Guangzhou Jinhan Exhibition Centre, leading to wastage in resources and creating difficulties for exhibitors in manning their booths in both venues.

Last year, the government formed a leading group to oversee the development of the exhibition industry. The Guangzhou Exhibition Industry Association was also established, and a set of opinions on the administration of the exhibition industry were issued. The industry also saw a major breakthrough last year with the granting of the international UFI certification to Guangzhou Jinhan Exhibition Company and Guangzhou Jinhan Exhibition Centre. In networking with international exhibition companies, encouraging progress was made in establishing close links with Hannover Fairs, Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH and CMP Asia.

Last October, the Guangzhou Guangya Messe Frankfurt Co Ltd invested jointly by Guangzhou Guangya Exhibition Company and Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH with a capital of US$12.5 million was officially set up. It was the first joint venture between a Guangzhou exhibition enterprise and a world-renowned exhibition company. Meanwhile, following the industry's earlier cooperation with COSMOPROF and CMP Asia, plans are afoot for Italy's COSMOPROF, the world's largest beauty fair, to be held in Guangzhou. The fair will have a scale second only to the Italian beauty festival.

In January, UFI hosted an exhibition presentation in Guangzhou. UFI has now become a consultant to Guangzhou's exhibition industry, with the objective of helping the industry draw more large-scale international exhibitions to the city.

In the meantime, the government will further develop the old Liuhua and new Pazhou exhibition zones. In 2007, the Liuhua exhibition complex will be handed over to the Guangzhou municipal government, which has decided that the functions of the Liuhua exhibition zone will be maintained while further use will be made of its excellent resources and supporting facilities.