Auto Shanghai 2025, one of the world's largest car exhibitions, is expected to attract some 1.3 million visitors, unleashing consumption potential and boosting the city's economic growth as the Chinese financial hub strives to become an international convention and exhibition capital.
The arrival of the five-day May Day holiday brought an even larger number of visitors to Shanghai to join the 10-day event from April 23 to May 2.
"I came to see cars, their appearance and their development," said a Chinese visitor.
"I'm coming here to see what are the trends and also talk to the companies to see if they're open and interested in some expansion plans to Europe," said an overseas visitor.
"It's great. It's fantastic. Shanghai is a beautiful city and it's very impressive here," said another foreign visitor.
Many international auto makers choose this platform for debuts of their most important products.
Large exhibitions like the Shanghai auto show have become an important platform for driving a city's economic growth.
According to the annual report on China's exhibition industry released by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, China held over 3,800 economic and trade exhibitions in 2024.
The eastern region, given its vibrancy of economy, organized the highest number, accounting for 67.3 percent of the country's total.
"First, exhibitions will create revenue for the exhibition centers and companies, including the rental of venues, the construction of booths and the rental of equipment, etc. Second, exhibitions, like the auto show we saw this time, will bring together a large number of exhibitors, buyers, and visitors, so it actually forms a huge consumer crowd in the city, stimulating the city's consumer market," said Lao Guoling, a researcher of the Chinese Modernization Institute under Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
To further unleash consumption potential, organizers have released vouchers exclusively designed for visitors attending the Shanghai auto show. The city government also extended its car trade-in program.
"We will further implement car trade-in policies and provide policy support for replacing old cars with license plates from outside of the city. The same subsidies will apply to those who trade in used cars not registered in Shanghai as Shanghai plates," said Liu Min, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.
Shanghai has vowed to become the center for international exhibitions. The city held almost 900 exhibition last year, and many, including the Shanghai auto show, have earned a great reputation around the world.
"We can do a lot more with 'exhibition plus', for example, exhibition plus tourism to create distinctive travel routes; exhibition plus business, such as the sales and discounts around the auto show; exhibition plus sports, exhibition plus culture, and exhibition plus technology. Consumption potential will be further unleashed by integrating the exhibition industry with other sectors," said Lao.
Shanghai auto show unleashes consumption potential
