The release of the 2025 China Conference Blue Book and the 2024 China Conference Statistical Analysis Report was recently held in Nanjing. Based on the data and analysis of the "China Conference Statistical Analysis Report", attending experts, government regulatory departments, and industry representatives summarized the conference industry in China in 2025 and provided prospects for the development of the conference industry in 2026.

Conference statistical analysis is the "database" and "navigation map" of industry development.

The "China Conference Statistical Analysis Report" has been the core "database" for industry development for fifteen consecutive years since its first release in 2011.

Wu Shaoyuan, Executive Vice President of China Conference Hotel Alliance and Editor in Chief of China Conference Blue Book and China Conference Statistical Analysis Report. (Image provided by China Conference Hotel Alliance)

Wu Shaoyuan, Executive Vice President of the China Conference Hotel Alliance and Editor in Chief of the China Conference Blue Book and China Conference Statistical Analysis Report, pointed out that the report, based on 15 years of continuous data accumulation, clearly outlines the evolution trajectory of the domestic conference market with the fluctuations of the times.

Shen Jinquan, a first level researcher at the Nanjing Council for the Promotion of International Trade, believes that the "China Conference Statistical Analysis Report" is the only authoritative annual conference statistical analysis result in China. With scientific classification, detailed data, and rigorous analysis, it has become an irreplaceable reference for industrial investment, market development, academic research, and organizer decision-making, and has milestone significance in leading the high-quality development of the industry.

Shen Jinquan, a first level researcher of the Nanjing Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, delivered a speech at the press conference. (Image provided by China Conference Hotel Alliance)

Yu Wei, General Manager of Nanjing International Youth Conference Hotel, the rotating president unit of China Conference Hotel Alliance, introduced that as the industry's "annual observation window" and "decision navigation map", the "China Conference Statistical Analysis Report" covers central cities and most county-level cities in multiple provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across the country, and has collected more than 220000 valid conference samples and 3.34 million core data items. The 2025 annual report will take 6 months to collect 9268 samples from 39 cities in 19 provinces, providing precise support for industry decision-making.

The restructuring of the conference industry pattern in 2025, with marketization and professionalization becoming mainstream

The restructuring of the conference industry pattern and regional vitality in 2025 was comprehensively presented in the sharing of three industry professionals.

Based on the analysis of report data, Wu Shaoyuan found that since 2023, the conference market has shown a trend of diversified categories, with the proportion of enterprise conferences dropping from a peak of 70% to 50%, public institution conferences decreasing to 9%, and government conferences continuing to shrink due to standardized management; And club meetings became the only category with significant growth, increasing their proportion by 15 percentage points.

Wu Shaoyuan gave a special example, stating that the club conferences focused on emerging industries have shown strong growth vitality. For example, the China Materials Conference (CMC) has seen its participation scale climb from 19,000 people in Shenzhen in 2023 to 23,000 people in Guangzhou Baiyun International Convention Center in 2024, and further increase to 25,000 people in Xiamen in 2025. Its growth logic lies in the close integration of conference content with the development needs of the new materials industry, providing an efficient platform for technical exchange and resource docking for the upstream and downstream of the industry chain, demonstrating the trend of industry marketization and specialization transformation.

Yu Wei mentioned that the conference industry is deeply embracing digital transformation, and green hosting, smart services, and cross-border integration have become the core trends for high-quality development. The International Youth Conference Hotel has provided fresh samples for the standardization and refinement of industry services by undertaking thousands of high-level conferences annually.

Yu Wei, General Manager of Nanjing International Youth Conference Hotel, the rotating president unit of China Conference Hotel Alliance. (Image provided by China Conference Hotel Alliance)

Shen Jinquan introduced that 18 conference hotels under key monitoring in Nanjing this year held over 1400 conferences with a scale of more than 100 people, with more than 600000 attendees. During the 113th National Sugar and Alcohol Commodity Fair, the 12 hotels that hosted business activities generated direct economic benefits of over 3 billion yuan in accommodation, catering, cultural tourism, and other areas, confirming the important role of the exhibition economy in industrial docking and resource aggregation.

2026 Conference Industry Outlook: High end, Industrialization, and Regionalization Parallel

For the development of the conference industry in 2026, three individuals have proposed a clear development path and direction based on policy guidance and market trends.

Exterior of Nanjing International Youth Conference Hotel. (Image provided by China Conference Hotel Alliance)

Wu Shaoyuan predicts that China's conference industry will present a trend of "high-end, industrialization, and regionalization" under the guidance of three major engines: major international conference empowerment, new quality productivity driving, and domestic unified market construction. The APEC conference to be held in Shenzhen in 2026 will promote the internationalization and upgrading of the industry. The China Materials Conference is also preparing for the Chongqing conference with a scale of 30000 people. Professional conferences focusing on emerging industries will transform towards "technology docking and achievement transformation", and regional alliance conferences will usher in development opportunities; At the same time, local governments should shift from "financial subsidies" to "industrial undertaking+service upgrading+value transformation", and amplify the value of conferences through anchoring industrial conferences and optimizing supporting services.

Yu Wei stated that he will continue to rely on the platform advantages of the China Conference Hotel Alliance to carry out a series of interpretation activities for the Blue Book, work together with industry partners to deeply explore the value of data, seek innovative paths, and promote the improvement and upgrading of conference services.

Professional conference services at Nanjing International Youth Conference Hotel. (Image provided by China Conference Hotel Alliance)

Shen Jinquan revealed that Nanjing will deepen the "Conference Award+Tourism" model with policy support. With the hardware foundation of over 4000 accommodation hotels and 52 star rated hotels, as well as convenient transportation and cultural heritage, it will undertake more high-quality conferences, promote the deep integration of the conference industry and urban development, and help promote regional coordinated development in the unified domestic market. (Zhou Yuning, reporter from China Economic Net)

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