The emergence of conferences is almost as ancient as the history of human society. However, the development from conferences to the conference industry is entirely a product of modern socio-economic development to a certain extent. From a market perspective, the conference industry is an inevitable result of the accumulation of trading activities in the conference market to a certain extent. In Western countries, there was a certain accumulation of conference markets before World War II, and important features of the emergence and development of the conference industry began to emerge, such as urban conference tourism bureaus, conference and exhibition centers, conference hotels, etc. However, the modern conference industry only began to form after World War II.
It is generally believed that some important signs of the emergence of a country's conference industry include the establishment of urban conference and exhibition related departments, the emergence of industry organizations, the entry of conference and exhibition centers into the market, and the beginning of professional conference and event companies playing an important role.
Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the development of China's conference market has gone through approximately three stages.
The first stage was from 1949 to 1978, during which the level of socio-economic development was not high, the total conference market was small, and the requirements for conference operation management and services were low. Therefore, there was no need for professional support from the conference industry chain.
The second stage was from 1978 to 2000, which was the gestation and accumulation period for the development of the conference industry. During this period, China's GDP increased from 406.2 billion yuan to 8.9 trillion yuan, an increase of more than 20 times. At the same time, the scale of China's conference market is constantly increasing, and the scale, quantity, and structure of international and domestic conferences are undergoing changes. Especially since the 1990s, the development and changes in the conference market have become more evident: China's first international conference center, the Beijing International Conference Center, has been put into operation, the Shanghai International Conference Center is also in preparation, and some conference hotels have begun to emerge, among others. It is worth mentioning that with the gradual development of reform and opening up, China's international scientific and technological exchanges have also begun to increase. In this context, by the mid to late 1980s, a professional organization within the China Association for Science and Technology was born to undertake international conferences.
The third stage is from 2000 to 2020, during which China's GDP increased from 8.9 trillion yuan to 100 trillion yuan. The starting point of this stage is China's accession to the WTO. In the past 20 years, the Chinese conference market has gone through a process of transformation from quantity to quality, with the total amount of the conference market rapidly increasing from 30-50 billion yuan to 800-1000 billion yuan (estimated by Conference magazine), an increase of about 20 times. The development and changes of the conference market are mainly reflected in the following aspects: firstly, the number of conferences has sharply increased, from hundreds of thousands to millions every year; The scale of conferences continues to increase, and conferences with hundreds or thousands of people have become the mainstream of the conference market; The trend of integrating conferences, exhibitions, and events is constantly accelerating, and conference related technologies and equipment have also made significant progress.
It is obvious that the conference market is rapidly expanding, the structure of conferences has become more complex, and the requirements for venues and services for conferences are also increasing. Therefore, the development of the conference industry has become a natural thing. During this period, the rapid development of the main members of the Chinese conference industry chain is reflected in the following aspects:
One is the organizational structure of the conference. At the upstream of the conference industry chain is the conference organizational structure, which includes associations, enterprises, and governments.
National level organizations are the main force in the conference market of Chinese associations. Although the changes in the number of national level social organizations over the past 20 years are not very significant, the number, scale, structure, and other aspects of various meetings organized by them have undergone fundamental changes. Take the Chinese Medical Association, the largest social organization in China, for example. Twenty years ago, the number, scale and influence of Chinese medical conferences were small. By 2019, there will be hundreds of conferences with more than 500 people held by the Chinese Medical Association, more than 10 conferences with more than 10000 people, and the largest conference has reached 30000 or 40000 people.
International conferences also fall under the category of club conferences, but their organizers are usually international club organizations. In the past 20 years, the number of international conferences held in China has increased from 84 in 2001 to 539 in 2019, achieving a qualitative breakthrough.
