(Yicai) Jan. 23 -- The exhibition industry can no longer be limited to hosting short-term events, but must be upgraded to a "symbiotic partner" that grows together with industries, cultivates industrial ecosystems in the long run, and helps Chinese firms integrate into global industrial circles, according to the chairman of China International Exhibition Center.

"We cannot just rent out venues, but should carefully design link scenarios for the supply chain and promote the 'chemical reactions' between upstream, midstream, downstream, large, medium, and small enterprises, as well as industry-university-research-application," Lin Shunjie said in an interview with Yicai on the sidelines of the three-day China Expo Forum for International Cooperation that ends today.

In the complex international political and economic situation, the business community recognizes the importance of maintaining the stability and smooth flow of the global supply chains, Lin noted. The exhibition industry needs to evolve from a service provider that offers gathering and trading venues into a creator of a symbiotic and collaborative network, Lin added.

The exhibition sector should extend the event lifecycle to sustainable offline collaborative networks through technological integration and ecological collaboration, making data the core asset for exhibitors and attendees to co-create value, according to Lin.

The exhibition industry is an important vehicle for guiding industrial development and promoting economic and trade cooperation, Li Qingshuang, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said at CEFCO's opening ceremony. It serves as a "source of industrial innovation," an "accelerator" for factor flow, and a "stabilizing anchor" for deep cooperation in global supply chains, Li added.

The steady expansion of Chinese companies' going global, involving continuous regional expansion, provides a broad market space for deepened cooperation between domestic and foreign exhibition industries, Li pointed out.

At the CEFCO, the CCPIT renewed cooperation agreements with four international exhibition organizations, including the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. In addition, Wuhan, the host city of the forum, signed 10 international exhibition projects.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev