An event report (73KB) is available.

As you may be aware, delivering exhibitions in China in recent years has become increasingly challenging in terms of working together with a Chinese partner agency.

Traditionally, the British Council has organized a fully branded UK pavilion within an international exhibition in China, working together with a national partner. Increasingly, the additional licensing fee charged for this activity has had significant cost implications for UK institutions and we have therefore seen the need to review our exhibitions activity, considering where the British Council can add most value to the activity undertaken by UK institutions in the Chinese market.

Taking the above factors into consideration, the British Council has taken the decision not to organize the Spring CIEET 2009 exhibition tour in China.

The Strategic Review of Exhibitions has also served to support this decision and a change in practice for exhibitions in China, highlighting the importance of responding to individual market needs and adapting exhibition activity where appropriate. Below is a costs comparison for the exhibition in Beijing for your reference.

Chinese partner booth flat rate: GBP 1,779.66 (CNR 21,000; exchange rate of CNR 11.8 = GBP 1.00)

British Council booth rate (break even at 48 booths; excludes credit crunch contingency):

	Item Cost Chinese partner venue fees GBP 149,000 Stand construction GBP 6,250 Advertising GBP 3,000 Staff costs GBP 3,000 Refreshments GBP 1,250 Communications GBP 375 British Council staff travel GBP 125 Sub-total GBP 159,875 Contingency (five per cent) GBP 7,993 UK staff costs GBP 14,069 Total GBP 185,062 Total per booth GBP 3,855.46

In view of the above and given the current economic situation and the tightening of marketing budgets faced by all UK institutions, we have requested for the Chinese partner to oversee the registration and management of the Spring exhibition.

In order to ensure the positioning of Education UK, positive press coverage, as well as on-site support to visitors, we are negotiating with the Chinese partner to have a British Council stand. In addition, a Discover Wales corner (supported by the Welsh Assembly Government) in Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing will be staffed and managed by our British Council personnel.

In order to maximize the benefits for institutions attending the exhibitions in China, the British Council proposes organizing a series of wrap-around activities, including the following:

• information days at language training schools
• presentation opportunities
• on- line chat through the Chine Education UK website
• electronic market updates on request.

We recognize that there has been a delay in conveying this information, for which we apologies. This has been brought about as discussions with the Chinese partner have been on-going and we are only now in a position to be able to inform you of the changes.

If you wish to attend the exhibition, please see the event details (99KB) and complete the application form and we will pass on all your information to Reliable, the Chinese partner agency, for processing. All payments, enquiries, follow-up and on-site support at the exhibition will be managed by Reliable.

Please contact our recommended freight handler, DJG, directly for all your freight arrangements. The deadlines for freight collection are:

• Sea freight: 17 December 2008
• Air freight: 29 January 2009

If you have any queries about this event, please contact the Education UK Events Helpdesk.