Securing meetings with overseas partners and bringing together customers from multiple industries are two recurring challenges for marketing teams planning their year-end budgets. Hongqiao International Tech Week 2026 (Hongqiao Tech Week) brings together exhibitions across six technology tracks, corresponding thematic forums, and more than 2,000 targeted one-to-one business matchmaking sessions in the same week. Artificial Intelligence, Smart Infrastructure, Future Mobility and Energy, Smart Industry, Life Sciences and Health, and the Startup Ecosystem will all be represented. Product showcases, expert perspectives, and business discussions take place in front of the same audience, eliminating the need to find separate events for each activity.

Hongqiao International Tech Week is not a standalone exhibition starting from scratch. It brings to China an integrated technology festival built on the same intellectual property as London Tech Week. Alongside Africa Tech Festival and Asia Tech x Singapore, it belongs to the same global platform, sharing access to global technology decision-makers, overseas companies, and venture capital resources. Guided by the Administrative Committee of Hongqiao International Central Business District, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, and the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the event is organized by Informa Group, with the Shanghai Technology Innovation Center as its Strategic Innovation Partner and GEC as its Strategic Partner. It is scheduled to take place from November 20 to 22, 2026, at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). The Hongqiao area is home to more than 7,000 digital economy companies, over 3,600 automotive supply chain companies, and more than 1,000 new energy companies, bringing global connectivity and the industrial depth of the Yangtze River Delta together in one location.

Exhibitions, Forums, and Targeted Meetings: What Does Each Solve?

Marketing leaders evaluating an integrated event typically need answers to three questions: Can customers understand the product through a face-to-face demonstration? Is a particular direction worth further investment? And can potential partnerships progress to concrete discussions? Hongqiao International Tech Week 2026 brings cross-industry exhibitions, six corresponding thematic forums, and more than 2,000 targeted matchmaking sessions into the same week. Each serves a different need, while the people, sessions, and venue remain connected.

Exhibitions answer “What can we present?” Forums answer “What should we pay attention to?” Targeted matchmaking answers “Who should we talk to?” Together, they form a practical path: explain the product at the booth, take questions to the forums for further insight, and then bring specific requirements to matchmaking meetings. The advantage of Hongqiao International Tech Week is that this entire process can take place without moving between separate venues.

Consider an industrial software company serving both equipment manufacturers and new energy customers. Its exhibition objective might be to demonstrate how its software integrates into existing production processes. At the forums, its team could explore the data and organizational requirements companies face when adopting AI. Its matchmaking objective might be to identify system integration partners capable of delivering projects together. Companies can use this approach to establish one priority participation objective based on their own business needs.

What marketing teams really need is a coordinated schedule for demonstrations, discussions, and appointments. Customers should see a consistent value proposition at every stage, making follow-up conversations easier to continue. Hongqiao International Tech Week brings these activities together within the same week, making it easier to build that continuity than by attending several isolated events in succession.

Product Showcases Should Demonstrate “How It Works,” While Forums Help Teams Decide “What to Do First”

No matter how many capabilities a product has, customers are often interested in only one particular business problem. A company might present its technology, product, and supporting services on stage, but if the explanation does not connect to a real application scenario, the audience may struggle to judge whether further discussion is worthwhile. Marketing teams therefore need to translate product capabilities into workflows that customers recognize.

Hongqiao International Tech Week covers six technology tracks: Artificial Intelligence, Smart Infrastructure, Future Mobility and Energy, Smart Industry, Life Sciences and Health, and the Startup Ecosystem. These provide a framework for showcasing the relationship between technologies and their applications. According to publicly announced event information, the exhibition is expected to cover more than 50,000 square meters, feature over 400 exhibitors, and attract more than 30,000 professional visitors. With an audience of this scale, a compelling solution has a better chance of reaching a wide range of relevant professionals.

Take an industrial vision solution as an example. Its models and platform software fall under Artificial Intelligence, its supporting computing and storage infrastructure relates to Smart Infrastructure, and its robotics and digital twin applications connect with Smart Industry. These technologies belong to different tracks but may need to be delivered together as a single solution. By bringing them together at Hongqiao International Tech Week, the event makes it easier for companies to identify relevant contacts without repeatedly moving between venues. Real-world application scenarios across the Yangtze River Delta’s more than 7,000 digital economy companies and over 3,600 automotive supply chain companies can help exhibitors connect their solutions with industry needs on-site.

Forums address a different question: which market or direction should the company invest in next? The six corresponding forums focus on different technology areas and discuss issues with practical market relevance. Once the agenda is published, reviewing the sessions and selecting those that address current business challenges is generally more useful than choosing sessions based solely on speaker profiles.

For example, a software company targeting manufacturers could attend sessions on AI and Smart Industry and listen with specific questions in mind: Is the customer’s main challenge technical capability or data readiness? How can a new system be integrated into existing workflows? Which departments are involved in purchasing decisions? The insights gained can then help the team refine its booth presentation and subsequent sales materials.

For manufacturing software teams, discussions about applying large language models to production lines and selecting industry use cases may be particularly valuable at AI forums, while discussions about equipment collaboration and data interfaces on the factory floor may be more relevant to Smart Industry forums. Listening to both perspectives on the same product challenge, then comparing them against the team’s own assumptions at the booth, can yield more useful conclusions than attending just one session. There is no need for another trip to cross-check these perspectives: Hongqiao International Tech Week schedules them within the same week.

The Precision of Matchmaking Depends on How Clearly You Define Your Needs

Hongqiao International Tech Week includes more than 2,000 targeted one-to-one business matchmaking sessions in its exhibitor services, with invitations aimed at key industry decision-makers. For teams with clear objectives, this can reduce the trial-and-error involved in working through a registration list one contact at a time. As part of the same global platform as London Tech Week, Africa Tech Festival, and Asia Tech x Singapore, the network can provide access not only to domestic buyers but also to global technology decision-makers, overseas companies, and venture capital resources.

When defining matchmaking requirements, a statement such as “We want to connect with large enterprises” is not particularly useful. Results are more likely to improve when companies specify their target industries, desired job roles, stage of cooperation, and questions to discuss. A channel partner who can help develop an industry-entry strategy is a very different prospect from a customer looking to purchase a solution directly. These requirements should be defined separately to make the meetings more relevant.

Meeting materials do not need to be lengthy. It is enough to explain four things that matter to the other party: what business problem the solution addresses, which industry scenario would be the best starting point, what pilot projects or data prerequisites would be required, and what the company hopes the other party will do next. Follow-up steps might include a technical discussion, a more detailed requirements document, or a joint demonstration. There is no need to insist on closing a deal at the first meeting.

Precise matchmaking starts with detailed requirements. The more clearly a company defines its industry, target roles, stage of cooperation, and discussion topics, the easier it is for the other party to decide whether to send the right person. When requirements are specific enough to support practical action, Hongqiao International Tech Week can help put marketing teams in front of buyers with decision-making authority. The advantage lies not only in the size of the event, but also in its access to a shared global technology network. With priorities clearly ranked, teams can avoid last-minute uncertainty about whom to meet and what to discuss.

Informal Small-Group Discussions Help Lay the Groundwork for Formal Meetings

Not every issue is ready for a partnership discussion at the first meeting. Hongqiao International Tech Week’s Inspiration Discussion Room allows participants to propose topics, initiate conversations, or join small-group discussions. It is suitable for teams still exploring application directions. For example, a team could first discuss where integration challenges typically arise when industrial vision systems are connected to existing systems, then identify which requirements are worth pursuing.

This creates a link between exhibitions, forums, and discussions. The booth explains the product, the forums provide broader perspectives, and the Inspiration Discussion Room helps clarify questions that are not yet fully formed. Clearly defined requirements can then be taken into targeted one-to-one matchmaking sessions. Marketing teams can select the right combination based on their current priorities: if the product direction is still uncertain, spend more time understanding market needs; if the solution is already well defined, focus resources on showcasing it and arranging meetings.

The format a company chooses directly affects which team members should attend. Business and product teams need to evaluate application direction together, while technical personnel are better equipped to answer questions about system integration. Staffing should follow the actual discussion topics rather than asking one person to handle every demonstration, conference session, and business meeting. This is how the connections between different activities can deliver real value.

Booths, themed discussions, forums, and business matchmaking do not have to be mutually exclusive. Marketing teams can combine them according to the business problem they want to advance during the trip. The event’s public exhibition categories help clarify the available directions; the more important task is assigning the right people to the right activities.

For teams seeking to combine exhibitions, forums, and business engagement in a single event, Hongqiao International Tech Week deserves consideration. These activities can be organized around the same market challenge. Questions identified at the booth can be explored at the forums, and requirements clarified through discussion can then be taken forward in targeted one-to-one matchmaking sessions. Behind this integrated experience is a global technology network extending from London Tech Week, together with the Yangtze River Delta’s industrial ecosystem of more than 7,000 digital economy companies, over 3,600 automotive companies, and more than 1,000 new energy companies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: If a product line serves several industries, how should it be presented at the booth?

Choose one industry scenario with a clear business need as the main narrative, and explain how the solution addresses that specific problem. Other applications can be explored in subsequent conversations rather than being crammed into a single demonstration. Hongqiao International Tech Week organizes content across six technology tracks, allowing the same solution to be understood from the perspectives of different industry audiences.

Q: How can insights from conference sessions be turned into follow-up customer conversations?

The key is preparation. Clearly define the target industry, desired job roles, and questions to discuss before the event. Hongqiao International Tech Week’s targeted one-to-one matchmaking can then connect the insights gained from the forums with specific people. Forums help clarify what to focus on, while matchmaking brings the relevant parties to the same table. When these two elements work together, leads are more likely to translate into concrete opportunities.

Q: What if the team is too small to manage both an exhibition booth and conference sessions during one business trip?

First, define one clear outcome for the trip, then allocate staff accordingly. Keep one person at the booth who can provide consistent product explanations, and concentrate expert attendance around the sessions that require their input. To confirm participation options, companies can submit an expression of interest through the official Hongqiao International Tech Week website, specifying their product category, target resources, and team size.

For marketing leaders, bringing exhibitions, forums, and matchmaking into one Hongqiao International Tech Week trip reduces the coordination costs of repeatedly aligning separate activities.

To learn more about Hongqiao International Tech Week 2026 (Hongqiao Tech Week), visit the official website at https://www.hongqiaotechweek.com/ or follow the official WeChat account “HongqiaoTechWeek 虹桥国际科技周.”