The most recent Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition was held in Hong Kong in 2007. The next five events will be held in Shanghai.

After several rounds of airport expansion in the recent years, the Shanghai Airport Authority (SAA) is continuing its efforts to turn Shanghai into Asia's traffic hub for both commercial and business aviation.

People.com.cn reported last week that the SAA has now sealed a five-year agreement with the U.S.-based National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) to host the Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (ABACE) from 2012 through 2016.

The next ABACE will be held at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport from March 27 to March 29, 2012. The show is expected to draw 5,000 to 6,000 attendees and 200 exhibitors.

"By partnering with NBAA, we are bringing the premier aviation show to China,"said Wu Nianzu, chairman of SAA. "We see ABACE as a key component in our future plans to build a conference center, attract more traffic to Shanghai and meet the aviation (and) business needs of Asia's busy executives."

China's central government has listed aviation a key industry to develop in its twelfth Five-Year Plan (2011-15).

This will be the first ABACE held after a five-year hiatus. The most recent show was held in 2007 at Hong Kong's Asia World Expo.

According to an NBAA statement, industry leaders such as Airbus Corporate Jets and Boeing Business Jets have already shown interest in exhibiting at next year's show.

Business Aviation in China

According to the NBAA, "business aviation" refers to the use of any "general aviation" aircraft for a business purpose -- basically all flights that are not conducted by the military or scheduled by commercial airlines.

U.S.-based aviation industry website AMT reports that China will need approximately 10,000 to 12,000 new aircraft to satisfy business-aviation demands in coming years.

The market for related industries, led by general aviation, is estimated at 1 trillion yuan.

"Combining these (factors) with China's status as the world's second-largest economy and the outcome is a business aviation market primed to take off," said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen.

The Shanghai Airport Authority is banking on the trade show to push Shanghai closer to its projected role as Asia's business-aviation hub.

The show's venue, Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Service Center, is a joint venture between Shanghai Airport Authority and Hawker Pacific, and is China's first specialized space to provide a complete array of services for business aviation.