Xiamen, a coastal city in Fujian province, is bolstering the development of its exhibition, convention and meeting industry based on the city's geographic advantages and open economy.

Chen Haoying, deputy head of the Xiamen bureau of commerce and head of the Xiamen bureau of convention & exhibition, said that this year is critical for the comprehensive recovery of the exhibition, convention and meeting industry in China and the nationwide competition will be fierce.

To better seize the opportunities, the Xiamen bureau of commerce recently issued new measures to further promote the development of the city's exhibition, convention and meeting industry.

The measures focus on improving the business environment for the industry and enhancing its professionalism, with the aim of strengthening the city's brand image and boosting its global recognition as a city for exhibitions, conventions and conferences.

"We are focusing on the effectiveness and precision of our policy guidance", in order to raise the quality and efficiency of exhibitions and conventions in the city, boost government-led events and support market-oriented operations, Chen said.

A variety of policies have been initiated. For instance, incentives have been proposed to encourage the growth of brand name exhibitions and subsidies are to be offered to promote the integration of online and offline exhibitions.

Talent training is also to be supported, as are overseas promotion activities.

Chen explained that the aim is to accelerate the high-quality development of the city's exhibition, convention and meeting industry by improving the efficiency of the use of fiscal funds.

Xiamen is also seeking to deepen the integration between the exhibition, convention and meeting industry and other sectors so as to facilitate the transformation and upgrading of advantageous industries in the city.

Projects involving pillar industries or strategic emerging industries can receive a reward of up to 50 percent on the standard subsidy basis.

The city is also improving the subsidy standards for international conferences and influential conferences so they can gather high-end resources, as well as providing subsidies for the creation of internationally leading exhibition platforms.

For example, a subsidy will be given to trade exhibitions with an exhibition area of 6,000 square meters or more and an exhibition period of no less than three days. A one-time bonus of 500,000 yuan ($70,650) will be given to a three-day exhibition with an exhibition area of 150,000 square meters and 7,500 booths.

A subsidy of 600,000 yuan is available for extra-large conferences with more than 5,000 attendees and a subsidy of 800,000 yuan will be granted to those with over 8,000 attendees.

Xiamen is paying great attention to the growth of companies in the industry and aims to cultivate a core group with a large business scale and strong competitiveness in their services.

It is also establishing a comprehensive guarantee and linkage mechanism for exhibitions. It is also taking the lead in establishing a comprehensive evaluation mechanism for major exhibition activities with the participation of all industry departments to ensure the provision of efficient services and enhance the sense of satisfaction of participants and visitors.