Ushering in a New Era for China's Conference and

Exhibition Industry

By HAI YAN

    THE imposing China National Conference Center (CNCC) in the famed Olympic Green, sits adjacent to the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube. It covers a total area of 530,000 square meters, with 23,600 square meters for conference and 35,000 square meters for exhibition.

    The CNCC and its 6,400-square-meter convention hall had served as both the International Broadcasting Press Center and the Fencing arena during the Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.Now, after a thorough transformation, it has been built into China's largest conference and exhibition center offering professional services to meetings, exhibitions, banquets and performances. The CNCC complex includes a hotel, two office buildings as well as ample commercial floor space.

China National Conference Center lobby, staged to welcome contenders in the 2009 World Championships of Magic.

    In July 2009 the CNCC received 2,500-odd visitors to the World Championships of Magic sponsored by the International Federation of Magic Societies. It was the first time for the federation to hold the event in a developing country.

    The CNCC's banquet hall features a floor space of 4,860 square meters after the face-lift, giving it the ability to accommodate up to 3,000 guests at one time. The elegant decoration and the spacious room leave you with the feeling of being in a grand European palace. Following its recent renovations it gained a capacity of 5,700 mobile seats, so that it can better meet demands of activities of different scales. The 2009 World Championships of Magic gave the convention hall its first chance to shine, setting the stage for magicians from all over the world to show and compete.

    In order to meet the requirements of the 2009 World Championships of Magic, staff of the CNCC specially prepared different venues for the close-up magic rehearsals, performances, competitions, banquets, lectures, stage properties exhibitions and salons. It is the first time ever that all the various needs of the complex event could be met in one venue. Magicians from 66 countries and regions were pleasantly surprised and satisfied with the CNCC.

    By November 2009, the whole CNCC complex, including the hotel, the convention center and the exhibition hall, will be fully open for business.

    There are already 70 events planned for the CNCC in 2010, including the International High-tech Expo and China Incentive, the Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition, one of the five international leading exhibitions. So far conference and exhibition bookings have been scheduled through to 2016. The CNCC has already begun initiating a new era for China's conference and exhibition industry.