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The Development of Trade Fair Ecologies in China: Case Studies from Chengdu and Shanghai

Author

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  • Harald Bathelt

    (Department of Political Science and Department of Geography and Program in Planning, University of Toronto, Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George Street, Toronto ON M5S 3G3, Canada; and Zijiang Visiting Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Economy, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China)

  • Gang Zeng

    (Department of Urban and Regional Economy, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China)

Abstract

Despite China's rapid economic growth and embedding into global value chains, not much is known about the primary places where buyers and sellers from China and abroad meet, do business, and circulate information and knowledge: That is, the national/international trade fairs in the country. Previous reports suggest that the number and size of such events in China is growing and that the trade fair business is in the process of catching up. Under these circumstances, trade fairs may develop into import or export events, where buyers and sellers engage in transactions, or into temporary clusters, where they exchange knowledge for industrial upgrading and innovation. In this context this paper explores the interaction and communication patterns of firms at Chinese trade fairs and investigates whether these events are similar to those in Europe and North America. The analysis involves systematic comparison of the communication and interaction practices at three national/international trade fairs in Shanghai and Chengdu, based on a total of 102 semistructured interviews.

Suggested Citation

  • Harald Bathelt & Gang Zeng, 2014. "The Development of Trade Fair Ecologies in China: Case Studies from Chengdu and Shanghai," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(3), pages 511-530, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:46:y:2014:i:3:p:511-530
    DOI: 10.1068/a45661
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Harald Bathelt & Gang Zeng (ed.), 2015. "Temporary Knowledge Ecologies," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15466.
    2. Peixin Li & Lixia Li & Xueliang Zhang, 2019. "Regional Inequality of Firms’ Export Opportunity in China: Geographical Location and Economic Openness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Huasheng Zhu & Kebi Chen & Yunlong Lian, 2018. "Do Temporary Creative Clusters Promote Innovation in an Emerging Economy?—A Case Study of the Beijing Design Week," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, March.
    4. Ren Lu & Torger Reve & Jing Huang & Ze Jian & Mei Chen, 2018. "A Literature Review Of Cluster Theory: Are Relations Among Clusters Important?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 1201-1220, September.

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