CMIC held in Chengdu for the first time, enabling Chengdu to develop international conference-oriented economic development
As Chengdu builds a growth pole in the western region supporting economic growth, more efforts will be made to push forward the internationalization of meetings and exhibition industry. China Convention and Exhibition Society, Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition, and Chengdu Municipal Tourism Administration co-held the CMIC 2012 Summer Summit in Chengdu, June 30-July 1, 2012, which brought together nearly 250 guests and attendees coming from the BestCities Global Alliance, domestic industrial associations & societies, famous conference organizations & service institutions, and governmental departments of main convention cities. These guests and attendees, centering on the theme ¡°Developing International MICE Market & Building International Convention City Brand¡±, discussed and shared opinions over issues like the marketing of and building of convention cities for international conference industry, offering a whole lot of insightful advice to Chengdu for developing into an important conference destination, global and domestic.
Zhang Qin, Executive Secretary of China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), Sun Guangxiang, former Deputy Minister of Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, PRC, Bai Gang, Member of the CPC Chengdu Municipal Committee and vice mayor, and Yuan Zaiqing, Chairman of China Convention & Exhibition Society delivered speeches respectively on the opening ceremony of this summit.
China Meetings Industry Conference (CMIC) is the largest and the most influential annual conference in the China¡¯s meetings industry. It functions as a high-level platform in which expert-level people within the domestic and international meetings industry discuss problems, share experience, and make appointments. This is the first time for CMIC to be held outside of Beijing, which has created favorable conditions for the development of Chengdu¡¯s meetings industry by winning over more resources and projects to land in Chengdu. Meanwhile, this summit is very practical, and it is reflected by high-level guests, wide-ranging buyers, and so on. Besides, there are many activities implemented during the meeting such as opening speeches, keynote speeches, dialogues, ¡°Seminar on the Building of Popular International Conference Destination for Chengdu & the First Session for Strategic Counselors for Chengdu Municipal Meetings Industry¡±, contract signing ceremony of important projects and strategic co-operations, ceremony of inviting and hiring Chengdu convention strategic counselor, and opening ceremony of MeetingsChina website Chengdu channel.
Geared towards Internationalization
Worldwide Top-level Experts Making Advice
A highlight of this summit is the participation of worldwide experts in the meetings industry, including Jerad Bachar, Director of the Dubai Convention Bureau and Chair of the Board of Directors for BestCities Global Alliance, Garry Grimmer, Strategic Consultant of the BestCities Global Alliance, CEO of GainingEdge Consulting the World¡¯s Business Events Industry and former Director of Melbourne Convention Bureau, Yao Wang, Executive Director of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), Sun Weijia, Chairman of China Committee of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) and Vice Chairman of Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development, and Xu Feng, Deputy General Manager of China National Convention Center (CNCC). They delivered excellent speeches concerning topics on services that international convention cities should provide to meeting planners, strategies for China¡¯s successful building of international conference cities, development and prospect of China¡¯s international conference market, opportunities and challenges for China¡¯s convention cities, China convention city meetings industry development strategy, to name a few.
According to information available, BestCities Global Alliance is an internationally famous organization facilitating co-operations among convention cities. It has been consistently devoted to making due efforts in such aspects as the building of convention city brand and standard service system, ever since its establishment 12 years ago. Currently, this alliance has 10 members, namely Cape Town of South Africa, Copenhagen of Denmark, Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, Edinburgh of Scotland, Melbourne of Australia, San Juan of Puerto Rico, Singapore, Vancouver of Canada, Houston of the United States, and Berlin of Germany.
The main purpose for the coming and participating of Jerad Bachar, Chairman of the Board of Directors for BestCities Global Alliance in the CMIC 2012 Summer Summit focused on issues regarding Chengdu¡¯s entry into the alliance, signaling that Chengdu has the potential to become the third Asian alliance city.
On the ¡°Seminar on the Building of Popular International Conference Destination for Chengdu & the First Session for Strategic Counselors for Chengdu Municipal Meetings Industry¡± convened on June 30th, 2012, persons in charge of Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition and Chengdu Municipal Tourism Administration made introductions to guests about the development of Chengdu¡¯s meetings industry, convention hotels and tourism resources. Besides, Yao Wang, Executive Director of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) and Yuan Zaiqing, Chairman of China Convention & Exhibition Society, as well as 10 newly- appointed Chengdu convention strategic counselors put up strategies and advice with regard to the advancement of Chengdu¡¯s conference industry.
Collaborative Development
Local Hotels Held on-spot Talk with more than 30 Conference Buyers
In recent years, the environment for Chengdu¡¯s meetings industry has been increasingly improved greatly propelled by provincial and municipal party committee and governments, enhancing Chengdu¡¯s capacity of hosting conferences & exhibitions and gaining recognition at home and abroad. In effect, renowned conferences such as Fortune Global Forum, World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention (WCEC), World biomaterials Congress, International Puppet Joint Conference and International Puppet Festival, Asian Route Development Conference, International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, and Global Automotive Forum have landed in Chengdu successively. Chengdu has become the top choice for foreign and domestic conferences and exhibitions and ranked first in the middle and western regions, with the reputation of the top-tier convention city in China. Apart from the strong stimulus from the Government, an upsurge arising from the market distinguished itself during the summit: a group of meetings buyers composed of more than 30 national associations and societies, professional conference planners, and MICE management firms came to Chengdu and conducted match-making discussions with hotels there.
On the contract signing ceremony held on June 30th, 2012, buyers enthusiastically held out their ¡°olive branches¡± one after another. Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition signed co-operation agreements with World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies on world Chinese Medicine convention, and with Data Center Industry Alliance of China on China Cloud Computing & Cloud Service Summit Forum. Besides, it also signed strategic co-operation agreements with Dalian Biteomics, Inc. which has successfully held many international conferences centering on biotechnology and industrialization.
Local hotels in Chengdu also obtained many orders through this summit meeting. Chengdu's Wangjiang Hotel signed co-operation agreements with Chinese Academy of Sciences about the 19th Sino-Japanese International Conference on Photoelectric Intelligent Materials and Molecular Electronics. Besides, it also signed co-operation agreements with the College of Polymers of Sichuan University regarding the 2nd International Symposium on Flame-resistant Materials & Technologies. Sichuan Jinjiang Hotel, on the other hand, signed agreements with Chinese Dance Sport Federation and Chengdu Metro Co., Ltd. about the 2nd China Chengdu International Dance Sport Festival and National Symposium on Rail Transit respectively.
According to Chen Lin, Director of Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition, it was for the very first time that conference planners and operation service organizations came to Chengdu to attend match-making appointments in such a large scale in the development of Chengdu¡¯s meetings industry. He said: ¡°The conference planners present at this summit have nearly 60 conference programs. We had organized local hotels to network with conference buyers in advance, and they networked again at the summit, which functions as a ¡®Purchasing & Ordering Fair¡¯ between conference sites and service supplying in a bid to build a communication platform for hotels attached to the entire meetings industrial chain. In so doing, the development of the whole conference market will be pushed forward, with the broadening and accumulating resources of income of Chengdu¡¯s meetings industry accelerated, thereby winning over as many international conference and exhibition programs as possible to land in Chengdu so as to further promote international academic exchanges in Chengdu, to obtain great forward of its meetings industry, and to enhance the recognition and influence of Chengdu.¡± So far, the meetings industry in Chengdu has taken a good and fast development course, which is boosted by administration and market.
Taking advantage of strengths and intelligence
List of Chengdu convention strategic counselors unveiled
During this summit, Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition and Chengdu Municipal Tourism Administration jointly named 10 famous people as strategic counselors for Chengdu¡¯s conference industry. According to Chen Lin, Director of Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition, this move is in conformity with speeding up modernization and internationalization of Chengdu¡¯s conference industry based upon the actual experience of international cities like Shanghai in their efforts to develop meetings industry, which is favorable to accumulate conference market elites across China, to broaden the bidding and hosting of international conferences and exhibitions, to make the most of all strengths and intelligence to invite meetings and exhibitions, and to enhance Chengdu¡¯s capacity of providing international-level services while holding conferences.
It is known that Shanghai took the lead in introducing the system of ¡°Conference Ambassadors¡± since 2006, producing tangible results. For 6 years, a large number of international conferences have been held in Shanghai, all of which are characterized by high professionalism, high level, and a large number of attendees. And the world rank of Shanghai was lifted from No.37 in 2005 to No.21 in 2010 in terms of holding international meetings.
Brief introductions to Chengdu convention strategic counselors (based on alphabetic order of names)
Hersey Cao
CEO and President of the Board of ACC (AcrossChina Communication),
2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch bearer, one of Top 10 Public Relations Characters of China in 2009, one of Top 10 Meetings Industry Newsmaker of China in 2009, one of Top 10 Influential Brand Experts of China in 2011, and Achievement Award of the public relations industry of China in 2011
AcrossChina Communication is a professional organization specialized in activities dissemination and brand communication. It consistently provides famous enterprises and brands, government departments, as well as other organizations with creative services and plentiful products to offer solutions regarding activities dissemination and brand communication. ACC, based on years¡¯ development, has been on the list of Top 20 Public Relations Industry of China released by CIPRA (China International Public Relations Association) for 6 consecutive years.
Cao Xuan (Anna)
President of HRH Communications, Member of CIPRA and Site
Dedicated to getting conference business platform running in a professional, scale, and high-end way, Cao Xuan has accumulated more than 10 years¡¯ experience in areas such as public relations, ads, meetings and exhibitions. Besides, she has also reached outstanding achievements in relation maintaining, program management, company operation, and so on. With respect to HRH Communications, it is headquartered in Beijing, with attention placed on providing customers with 360-degree integrated marketing services and tailored efficient brand communication services that are guided by international managerial methods. Right now, it has set up branch offices in cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi¡¯an, Wuhan, Sanya, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Xiamen, to name a few.
David Chen
General Manager of China Comfort Travel MICE Service
Chen Wei graduated from University of Nottingham, receiving a degree of Master of Science in information technology management. He used to work as chief operation officer of American Express China branch offices and was mainly responsible for business regarding meetings and incentives. He first put forward the idea of ¡°Smart MICE¡±, and successfully built the brand of CMS through self-initiated management methods and software-aided system, because of which he was praised and awarded by the Beijing Municipal Government. Besides, he was honorably conferred the title of one of Top 10 Meetings and Incentives Industry Newsmaker of China in 2011.
First integrated and then established in 2008, CCT MICE Service is headquartered in Beijing. It has set up professional meetings & incentives companies in Shanghai, the business coverage of which involves medicines, IT, automobiles, finance, resources, insurance and other Fortune 500 enterprises. Its annual revenue totals RMB 1 billion, making itself one of China¡¯s largest meetings & incentives providers.
He Jian
Director General of China International Conference Center for Science and Technology (CICCST)
He Jian graduated from Sichuan Foreign Language University in 1997, and pursued further studies in Whitworth College in the United States. He used to work in the China Ocean Shipping Company and the International Exchange Office of China Association for Science and Technology. Since 2006, he has been in the position of Director of CICCST and China Council for the Promotion of Applied Technology Exchange with Foreign Countries. Ever since 1984, He Jian has participated in more than 80 international S&T conferences and has performed many positions such as conducting liaisons & plannings, as well as doing translation for over 100 international S&T exchange groups. Under the leadership of China Association for Science and Technology, CICCST, built in 1984, is a non-profit organization facilitating China to hold international S&T conferences and initiate global S&T exchanges. For many years, CICCST together with China Association for Science and Technology has been devoted to conducting exchanges and co-operations with international organizations in a bid to invite more and more international academic meetings to be convened in China.
Richard Rheindorf
Deputy General Manager of MCI China
Richard Rgeindorf is currently the Deputy General Manager of MCI Beijing Branch Office, and has got in himself up to 16-year experience in the meeting and incentive industry. He once performed such positions as Chairman of the International Committee of International Convention & Exhibition Industry Association, Director of the Board of Directors of Conference Management Certification, and Member of the Convention Committee of Professional Convention Management Association. Besides, he is also member of SITE, MPI, ICCA, and other international conference associations.
MCI is world leading company with business scopes covering association management, conference & activities organizing, and dissemination and planning. It was founded in Geneva, Swiss in 1987, and has branches in 47 cities covering Europe, Asia, and America. MCI entered China back in 2006, and established MCI Hong Kong in 2008 and MCI Beijing in 2009, distinguishing itself as the leader of conference industry across the globe.
Li Zhuyuan
President of CITS (Beijing) International MICE Co., Ltd.
Li Zhuyuan graduated from Minzu University of China and Kim Il-sung University. Having equipped with rich practical and managerial experience in all aspects of businesses for travel agencies, in 1991 Mr. Li joined CITS (Beijing) International MICE Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of China International Travel Service Limited (CITS). Over the past 10 years, he has been devoted to the cause of international meetings and exhibitions. And presently he is Chairman of the meetings and exhibition professional committee of CITS.
Liu Ping
CEO of China Star Ltd.
with over 20-year practical experience in incentive tourism and meetings industry, first international director of Site coming from China mainland, Member of MPI and one of initiators of WPCOA, and winner of IMEX Frankfurt Academy Award.
China Star Ltd. is a PCO (Professional Conference Organizer), a DMC (Destination Management Company), and also a traditional company focusing on all kinds of travel programs. Ever since its establishment, China Star has been persistent in building conference and incentive tourism brands with Chinese characteristics. After ten-year hard work, today¡¯s China Star is a well-known company at home and abroad.
Wang Xin
President of CTS MICE Service Co., Ltd.
After joining CTS MICE corporate in 2005, Wang Xin has done a wide range of businesses, including inbound services, citizen services, meeting and incentive services, offices, human resources, and so on. As a result, he has obtained a thorough understanding of all facets of businesses and management.
CTS MICE Service Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of China Travel Service Head Office Co., Ltd. with exclusive focus placed on the enterprises¡¯ needs for long-term conference and incentive tourism. Headquartered in Beijing, CTS MICE corporate has a branch office in Shanghai, and only provides service regarding meeting and incentive tourism to enterprises. Boasting of ten-year development and refinement, CTS MICE corporate has made due contributions to the sound development of the whole meetings industry.
Yuan Hao
President of China CYTS MICE Service Co., Ltd.
Yuan Hao graduated from Beijing International Studies University (BISU), receiving a Bachelor¡¯s Degree of Economics. Presently, he is Vice President of China CYTS Tours Holding Co. Ltd., President and CEO of China CYTS MICE Service Co., Ltd., and also Chairman of the meetings and exhibition professional committee of CITS. Boasting of ten-year hard work, CYTS MICE has developed into one of leading integrated service enterprises within China¡¯s tourism industry in terms of business travel, conference management, incentive travel, public relations communication, and activity management. It has made essential contributions to cultivating talents and conducting innovations in the operation management of China¡¯s meetings industry, by building a conference & exhibition chain so as to push forward the conference industry as a whole. CYTS MICE was funded in 2002, and it is China¡¯s first travel agency specializing in conference and exhibition industry, with the concept of "Concentration Creates Professionalism" being its abiding pursuit. Thanks to many years¡¯ development, CYTS MICE has been concentrating on the efforts and innovation of MICE market and successfully organized a large number of huge domestic, inbound, and overseas projects and tours on a global basis.
Zhou Yuanhui
President of HighTeam, Member of Site, Council Member of China International Public Relations Association, Member of MICE China Magazine Honorary Committee
Mr. Zhou Yuanhui has been dedicated to the R&D of event marketing, and has got in himself more than 15-year professional marketing experience, including branding management, large-scale activities planning and management, public relations communication, sports marketing, digital marketing, and integrated marketing. On the other hand, its customers include automobiles, IT, sports, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), as well as government organizations.
HighTeam was founded in 1995, focusing on tailor-made integrated campaign marketing solution ICM for government, renowned medium- and large-sized corporations, multinational companies, international organizations and various Non-Government Organizations and Non-Profit Organizations which have publicity needs in China. With headquarters established in Beijing, HighTeam has successively set up branches in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Xiamen as three pivots, and established co-operation organizations across cities such as Chengdu, Shenyang, and Hong Kong as a radiating network composed of nationwide service network and operation platform for grouping. Besides, it also owns the Beijing HighTeam Network Color Printing Co., Ltd.