China aims to upgrade its logistics sector by holding international events that can attract global industry heavyweights.

One of the premier events of the year is transport logistic China 2014, which will open on June 17 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. The exhibition is a subsidiary of transport logistic, a Munichbased biannual event held by the Messe Müenchen International.

The three-day event, also known as the 6th International Exhibition for Logistics, Mobility, IT and Supply Chain Management, together with Rail & Metro China, will attract more than 800 global exhibitors and 25,000 professionals as visitors, encompassing a massive 50,000 square meters of exhibition space.

The event, with Air Cargo China as its part, will showcase the entire logistics industry chain ranging from logistics service to property, equipment, transport, air cargo, shipping, fresh food storage and informatization management.

“An international show is a window through which we can see the outside world, as well as a door which provides an opportunity for us to communicate with the world,” said Xu Jia, chief operating officer of MMI (Shanghai) Co Ltd.

About 30 forums involving 10 themes will be held during the show. Those forums will include a summit on sea-land and silk road logistics channels, a forum how to integrate supply chain resources, and a development forum focusing on how to manage the cold chain, Xu said.

“The show is a bellwether of growth in China’s logistics industry,” she said. “At the beginning, it was dominated by overseas exhibitors but now it has many local exhibitors.”

“The secret of its success lies in its accurate market positioning and innovative exhibition ideas,” she said, adding that it has become Asia’s largest and most influential logistics exhibition.

Different from the transport logistic in Germany which had 2,000 exhibitors from 63 countries in 2013, transport logistic China has entered a period of rapid growth with many up-and-coming companies in attendance.

“The transport logistic show has set a direction for the logistics biennale in Asia to develop in the wake of the model designed by developed countries as Germany,” Xu said.

Meanwhile, transport logistics China also hosts salons on logistics in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen at regular intervals to boost China’s logistics industry. The salons have earned wide acclaim from industry executives at companies including Sinotrans, Fablog, Kerry Logistics and China Post, Xu said, adding that the salons are held on a monthly basis and provide a platform for industry executives to understand the latest trends affecting the China logistics sector as well as an excellent opportunity to network.