The 18th Yiwu Auto Culture Fair, which ran from Dec 12 to 15, received 31,000 visits and facilitated 211 million yuan ($30.02 million) in intended transactions, marking another successful chapter in the booming exhibition economy of Yiwu, a county-level city in Jinhua, Zhejiang province.

According to the Yiwu market development committee, from January to November, the city hosted 54 trade fairs, with a total exhibition area of 1.26 million square meters — an increase of 13.7 percent from the previous year.

The number of participating enterprises reached 29,684, up 21.7 percent, while the number of standard booths reached 57,619, up 22 percent.

The events attracted more than 1.95 million visits from domestic and international buyers, an 11.9 percent increase, with the three key indicators of exhibition areas, participating companies, and buyer footfall surpassing last year's totals.

Yiwu now boasts eight events approved by the Union of International Fairs, including the China Yiwu International Commodities Fair, International Forest Products Fair, and Zhejiang International Electronic Commerce Expo, ranking among the top 10 cities nationwide and first among county-level cities.

Yiwu has created immersive consumer experiences at exhibitions, such as intangible cultural heritage markets, to increase the events' popularity. The city has also strengthened collaboration between exhibitions and other sectors, including tourism and catering, resulting in a more than 25 percent increase in both hotel occupancy rates and airport and high-speed rail traffic.