Hangzhou expo draws 60,000 visitors

The 14th Hangzhou Cultural and Creative Industry Expo took place last week (29 October to 1 November) as a hybrid event, attracting more than 60,000 visitors.

The expo attracted more than 4,000 cultural institutions and enterprises from more than 60 countries and regions to participate online and offline — a 60 per cent increase from 2019.

During the exhibition, the main venue received more than 60,000 visitors, while two online sub-venues received more than 930 million clicks, while 2.19 billion yuan (approx. US$330 million) worth of transactions was completed on-site — largely powered by e-commerce.

As one of the online sub-venues of the expo, Dongjia App is an online shopping platform specially set up for traditional craftsmen.

According to Meng Wenbo, president of the app, more than 2,000 exhibitors from home and abroad "transferred" their offline works to the app, presenting their works in a three-dimensional and diversified manner by means of pictures, videos and live broadcasts.

"The expo used to be held offline in a relatively short period. With the digitalisation of the event, the online venue has opened up more possibilities for people to browse, communicate and buy through mobile phones anytime and anywhere, creating a year-long 24-hour event," Meng added.

This year's Hangzhou Cultural and Creative Industry Expo also gathered more than 100 cultural and creative institutions, including Alibaba, which held more than 20 professional activities such as an industry summit and the annual industry index release to jointly discuss latest trends in the development of cultural industries.

Over the past 14 years, the Hangzhou Cultural and Creative Industry Expo become one of China's four major cultural exhibition activities, and a cultural landmark for Hangzhou on the world stage.