China’s tourism development: Life begins at 40

Apart from serving as an effective platform of exploring the Chinese market for exhibitors, the annual fair also allows the world to see the changes and growth of China’s tourism industry, where Shanghai acts as a window of China’s opening up to the outside world, and has consistently ranked among the top destinations for tourists.

A more mature market

When it comes to modern tourism, China is nearly a century behind Western countries. From 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded, to 1978, there was no official tourism industry in China. Since 1978, when China launched the policy of reform and opening up, the tourism industry has entered a new historical period. Thanks to the reform and opening up, China has become a huge tourist destination, and its growing tourism has boosted the mutual exchanges between China and the rest of the world.