Xu Junhao　Chen Zhiying

The Canton Fair, known as the “barometer” of Chinas foreign trade, was held online for the first time, becoming a landmark which promotes the transformation and upgrading of exhibition industries in the epidemic. Since the year 2020 marks the Year of China-ASEAN Digital Economic Cooperation, the theme of the 17th CAEXPO has been determined as “Jointly Building the Belt and Road and Developing Digital Economy”, to better promote cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in digital economy.

Epidemic accelerating the digitalization of the exhibition

The epidemic in 2020 stimulated the development of new economic formats such as E-commerce, online offices and telemedicine. A study released by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in April pointed out that the global crisis brought by the epidemic further promoted the development of digital economy, improved the use of digital solutions, tools and services, and accelerated the digitalization of global economy.

Take China and ASEAN countries for example, the epidemic not only promoted their online economic development, but also accelerated their international cooperation in digital economy. According to China Economic Daily, cross-border E-commerce and other new formats have grown significantly in 2020, helping to stabilize foreign trade under the epidemic. According to statistics, the import and export trade completed through the cross-border E-commerce management platform of China Customs in the first quarter of 2020 increased by 34.7%. The trade in goods between China and ASEAN also rose 6.1%. Obviously, it was inseparable from the strong support of cross-border E-commerce.

In addition, the development of the digital economy and the impact of the epidemic have also accelerated the digital transformation of exhibition industries. The most typical example is that Canton Fair has been held online, in which the display of docking platforms, cross-border E-commerce zones and live marketing services is eye-catching.

In order to minimize the impact of the epidemic on exhibitions and turn the crisis into an opportunity, the Ministry of Commerce of China in April issued 13 guiding opinions on innovation of exhibition modes and cultivation of new energy for the development of exhibitions.

Therefore, no matter to serve the China-ASEAN cooperation in digital economy, or to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the exhibition, the 17th CAEXPO will make great strides in digitalization.

A new CAEXPO with new digital elements

According to the CAEXPO Secretariat, agricultural exhibitions of the 17th CAEXPO will focus on the smart agriculture sector, set up E-commerce zones, introduce agricultural E-commerce platforms, agricultural big data institutions, etc., promote the docking of exhibitors and establish a presence in the E-commerce zone of agricultural products trading center in Nanning. At the same time, it will also combine live broadcasts and short videos to sell products.

E-commerce, a product of the deep integration of information technology and commercial circulation, becomes a strong driving force which promotes the economic growth in various industries, while live broadcasts and short videos are the most popular E-commerce modes at present. The integration of E-commerce zones and live broadcasts in the agricultural exhibition reflects the active application of new technologies and the innovation of exhibitions in the CAEXPO.

According to Hong Tao, chairman of the E-commerce Committee of Agricultural Products of China Agricultural Exhibition Association, in terms of the digital transformation of exhibition industries, first of all, it is necessary to have an advanced mindset and effectively use modern technologies. Secondly, we need to adopt a variety of live broadcast methods to showcase the new format of exhibition industries. Thirdly, innovating exhibition modes and applying a variety of exhibition scenes are important. Finally, we need to integrate displays and sales, thus generating better economic, social and ecological effects.

In fact, as early as 2019, the 16th CAEXPO made full use of modern information technologies, to actively build the online CAEXPO, thus improving the capacity of digital services.

In addition, in order to serve the China-ASEAN cooperation in digital economy, the 17th CAEXPO will set up a separate exhibition zone of “digital economy” for the first time in Advanced Technology Exhibition, one of the five main exhibitions.

With the 17th CAEXPO approaching, more digital elements will be disclosed gradually. It is worth looking forward to a new CAEXPO with digital transformation.