Fira de Barcelona enters China in alliance with the Greenland group

Fira de Barcelona has signed an important agreement to boost its internationalization and strengthen its consulting and trade fair services division for third parties. The institution chaired by Pau Relat has formed a joint venture with the Chinese construction and real estate group Greenland Holdings, allowing it to make a grand entrance into the Asian trade fair market, which is now beginning to reactivate after the paralysis caused by the pandemic. Thanks to this agreement, Fira de Barcelona will be responsible for managing two exhibition venues in China totaling nearly 240,000 m² and will also participate in the design of a new exhibition complex of more than 100,000 m².

It is not the first time that Fira de Barcelona has co-organized events in China and on the Asian continent, but the creation of the Greenland–Fira alliance means establishing a permanent presence in the Asian giant and multiplies future business opportunities, both due to the stature of the chosen partner, one of the main Chinese real estate promotion and development companies ---backed by the State---, and the economic importance of the country. Furthermore, being in China can incentivize the presence of Asian exhibitors and visitors at Fira de Barcelona's own various shows, thus boosting its internationalization, a priority objective in all its shows.

More than ten years ago, Fira de Barcelona activated a plan to develop in the foreign market through a dual approach. On one hand, it chose to hold some of its most emblematic and successful shows, such as Smart City and Alimentaria, in different countries around the world. In parallel, it launched a new business line to leverage all the know-how, that is, the knowledge, technological developments, and trade fair experience of the institution, which has resulted in multiple international consulting contracts and even management of exhibition venues in countries such as Qatar, Cuba, Canada, Chile, and Mongolia. Notable experiences include managing a convention center in Doha and the alliance with the Cuban governmental body Grupo Empresarial Palco to co-organize shows at the Pabexpo complex in Havana.

Now, the fair institution directed by Constantí Serrallonga will assume the management of two fairgrounds in China ---both at a commercial, technical, logistical, and operational level---, located in the cities of Xuzhou and Nanchang. Both have restarted the celebration of trade shows this June after the pandemic hiatus and plan to hold more than 40 events until the end of the year. Specifically, in June, a trade show dedicated to the automotive industry took place in Nanchang, a city in the southeast of the country, and 25 more trade shows are expected until the end of the year. This is a venue with 170,000 m². In parallel, the Xuzhou fair, inaugurated at the end of 2021, has 66,000 m² of exhibition space and is expected to reach 136,000 m² in future phases; it will host about fifteen trade shows.

"The management of the two international venues consolidates Fira as a relevant player in a strategic market like China and reaffirms its strategy of promoting external action with the aim of offering business opportunities to companies that want to open new markets," says the director of International Business of Fira de Barcelona, Ricard Zapatero.

The new Greenland- Fira already has new projects in its portfolio: it is designing a new fairground of more than 100,000 m² in the Chinese city of Shangqiu, in the east of the country, which is expected to become operational from 2024.

Throughout 2022, Fira de Barcelona will organize eleven trade shows outside Spain thanks to the good positioning it has achieved abroad with Smart City Expo World Congress and thanks to the agreement with Grupo Empresarial Palco in Cuba. During the first semester, Alimentos Cuba 2.0, Fecons and Renewable Energies (Cuba), Smart City Expo Curitiba (Brazil), Smart City Expo Doha (Qatar), Smart City Expo Latam Congress and ExpoAntad Alimentaria (Mexico) have been held. Soon, Transport and Logistics (Cuba), Smart City Expo USA (Miami), Smart City Expo Santiago del Estero (Argentina) and Smart City Expo Shanghai (China) will follow.

This agreement to enter China is announced after Fira de Barcelona has achieved a very important success: securing the permanent celebration of the Mobile World Congress.