Yiwu Exhibition industry:on the way to the world

On May 18,1995 the China Commodity City on Huangyuan Road was decorated brightly and crowded. A commodities fair-the first Yiwu Fair came into being. On that day,over 200,000 customers visited the China Commodity City and products of some famous enterprises were on display such as Hero pens,Premier cameras and products from China First Pencil.
　　With the rising fame of Yiwu market,over 15,000 more booths were set up in Huangyuan market from 1991 to 1994. The commodities market of the fourth generation was called“commodities world”at that time.However,officials in Yiwu Administration for Industry and Commerce were quite clear that the “commodities world”was still in the shadow of“bargains”.Therefore,how to improve the brands of commodities was a problem preying upon the leaders of Yiwu Administration for Industry and Commerce and the commodities market.
　 　At the end of 1994,the proposal of holding commodities fair was approved by Yiwu leaders,which aimed to improve the popularity of Yiwu market and provide a platform for enterprises and agents. In the following year,the fair was named “China Commodities Fair” and was rescheduled to be in October,the peak season of the second half of the year. Special exhibition zones as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong hall,clothes hall,non-staple food hall and local hall were set up in the second fair,which was moving forward to be a fair at the national level.
　　With the development of commodities fair,the first professional exhibition company - China Commodity City Exhibition Company - was established in 1997 and Yiwu exhibition industry finally stepped into the course of professional development.
　　Yiwu Fair reflects the development and change of Yiwu Market. Yiwu Fair came out of Zhejiang into the world in 14 years. So did Yiwu Market. Now Yiwu Fair ranks third in the domestic exhibition industry,only next to Canton Fair and the East China Fair.
　　In 2002,the China Commodities Fair was upgraded to “China Yiwu International Commodities Fair” and Yiwu Fair became an international fair. Due to the constant increase of overseas businessmen in the previous years,in 2002,the international trade visitors had great changes in both quality and quantity,and the international fame of Yiwu city was greatly raised and the status of Yiwu in international commodities trade was clearly shown in Yiwu Fair.
　 　On June 12,2004 the Cultural Products Trade Fair,the second largest exhibition in Yiwu,came into being. Although it was originally a folk fair in Yiwu,it attracted 2,000 foreign businessmen from more than 20 countries and regions in 3 days. And the success of Cultural Fair brought a series of professional exhibitions into Yiwu.
　　The folk-rooted Cultural Fair attracted the attention of Yiwu government. In order to bring the Cultural Fair into full play in the trade of Yiwu cultural industry,Yiwu government took over the fair in 2006 and it was named China Yiwu (International) Cultural Products Trade Fair. The turnover of 2006 was a dozen times that of last year,which reached 1.36 billion yuan. And the Cultural Fair became the second largest fair in Yiwu thereafter.
　　The effects of Yiwu Fair and Yiwu Cultural Fair show that the exhibitions in Yiwu have great advantages. Nowadays led by Yiwu Fair and Yiwu Cultural Fair,many international professional fairs develop together such as Consumer Goods Fair,Hardware Fair and Beauty & Cosmetics Expo. Every fair is the wind vane of professional market,which serves to promote trade by exhibition and bring Yiwu exhibition industry and trade into mutual development. In these years,new exhibitions and exhibition companies from outside have entered Yiwu constantly. And now there are over 40 exhibitions held in Yiwu annually.
　　Yiwu Meihu Exhibition Center is one of the largest professional exhibition halls in East China. With the development of Yiwu exhibition industry,the scale of exhibition was enlarged gradually. This year the goal of building an international commodities exhibition center was set at the enlarged meeting of the Fourth Plenary Session of the Twelfth Central Committee of CPC Yiwu Municipal Committee,that is,to develop new exhibitions through market trade,to promote market trade by exhibitions,and to foster a group of brand exhibitions led by Yiwu Fair.