The boss of exhibition group Informa has said that business activity in China will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024, reports the Financial Times. “The China market has reopened predominantly domestically in the short term, but that will build through 2023,” said chief executive Lord Stephen Carter. “I think we won’t see a fully normalised business until 2024 because it will take until [then] for China to fully recover.”
Business conferences and trade shows have largely bounced back since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, with the US and Middle East surpassing pre-pandemic activity, but China has lagged behind as it only eased its tougher restrictions in December and travel is still reduced.
The FTSE 100 company is the owner of trade events worldwide such as the Monaco Yacht Show and World of Concrete in Las Vegas as well as the academic publishing company Taylor & Francis.
