Shang Yuying, director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, announces on April 10 that Shanghai's exhibition space ranks top among major global convention cities. [Photo/eastday.com]

Space available for hosting exhibitions and conventions in Shanghai has currently exceeded 1 million square meters, ranking first among major global convention cities, said Shang Yuying, director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, on April 10 at a news briefing.

There are two extremely large venues - the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) and the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, nine medium-sized ones such as Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, over 20 professional exhibition sites such as China Art Museum and Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, and numerous hotels equipped with convention facilities, which can satisfy various needs.

In 2017, the city hosted 1,020 exhibitions and conventions with the coverage totaling 17.7 million square meters. 36 exhibitions and conventions exceeded 100,000 square meters and 6 exceeded 300,000 square meters. Last year, the industrial revenue exceeded 120 billion yuan ($19 billion).

Shanghai aimed high to become a capital of international exhibitions and conventions by the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, according to Shang.

Shanghai expects to annually host 20 million square meters exhibitions and conventions, of which 50 will exceed 100,000 square meters and 80 percent of them will be international ones, by 2020.

The National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) covers a combined floor area of 1.47 million square meters. [Photo/news.163.com]

The Shanghai New International Expo Centre has 200,000-sqaure-meter indoor exhibition area and 100,000-square-meter outdoor exhibition area. [Photo/sniec.net]