A draft law being mulled in the city’s legislature will enable foreign companies to host trade shows in Shanghai without teaming up with local firms. Currently, overseas companies can hold international trade shows in China only by commissioning or joining a local company. Hua Yuan, Director of the Shanghai Commerce Commission, told legislators that Shanghai hopes to blaze a trail in this regard as the city opens up its exhibition industry and intends to bring more globally renowned exhibitions to the city. The Shanghai Exhibition Industry Regulation, will be the first law in this regard in the city. The law defines exhibitions as business events where products, technologies or services are presented and which offer road shows, B2B meetings and business exchanges.

The draft law also has stipulations to enable fast exhibition applications, ensure public security of large-scale events, provide convenience to foreigners who attend the events, and to secure efficient intellectual property right protection. It asks the government to establish an online portal where companies that intend to hold exhibitions can submit applications to all relevant administrations via the internet. It usually takes half a year for an application to finish all procedures, but the new online service is expected to significantly reduce the trouble for the organizers of the exhibitions. The draft law also stipulates that exhibition organizers can request security and other necessary services from the government for events which are expected to draw more than 50,000 visitors per day.

A total of 1,032 exhibitions were held in Shanghai with the a combined floor space of 18.8 million square meters in 2018, a jump of 61% and 134% respectively from 2010. Shanghai tops all cities in China with 42 exhibitions with a floor space of over 100,000 sq m and is the world’s major exhibition hub with 12 exhibitions listed among the top 100 exhibitions around the world, the Shanghai Daily reports.