Post-Olympics Beijing continues to impress as a destination for business events. There is a huge range of new or almost new five-star hotels, a new convention centre and a range of international business events on their way to the city.

International event planners are regularly impressed by the city’s history, which is a key selling point for first-time visitors. Offerings include Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, with the Great Wall of China only an hour’s drive away.

“Delegates visiting Beijing for the first time experience the old and the new in a way that only Beijing can offer,” says Rebecca Lim, general manager – Asia for World Events. “There is a very real sense that Beijing is the embodiment of a confident China, a convergence of political, cultural, economic and creative forces.”

Conference space
China National Convention Centre (CNCC) opened last November with capacity for 6,000 delegates in its plenary hall, 3,000 people in its ballroom and a further 70 meeting spaces.

There is 23,000 sqm of exhibition space. CNCC has already hosted a series of international events, including the World Cardiology Congress in June with 11,000 delegates, the 20th Conference of the Asia Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (4,000), Microsoft TechEd (4,500) and the China Med Exhibition, which used 55,000 sqm of floor space (indoors and outdoors).

The biggest event on its horizon is the Oracle Open World Beijing 2010 conference in December, which is expected to attract 10,000 delegates.

Current hotels
Park Hyatt offers The Gallery on level three, which is a stylish designer space for cocktail functions and meetings with a difference. The 237-room property has a further 2,650 sqm of meeting space with the largest able to hold 1,200 people.

Across the road, Shangri-La’s China World Hotel offers 716 guestrooms and an impressive 29 meeting spaces ranging in capacity from 20 to 1,200 delegates. The hotel will soon open its 278-room Summit Wing, which will be ideal for high-end groups.


Nearby the 521-room Grand Millennium Beijing offers a 1,000 sqm pillarless ballroom and 11 meeting rooms.

In the north of the city, the 315-room Marco Polo Parkside, Beijing offers eight meeting spaces, two ballrooms and two meetings suites, ranging in capacity from 20 to 350 delegates. The hotel is minutes away from China National Convention Centre and the Olympic Stadium.

At the Olympic site, the 337-room InterContinental Beichen is attached to CNCC and can host 140 for a reception in its largest meeting space.

On the other side of the Olympic site, Crowne Plaza Sun Palace has 519 guestrooms across its 25 storeys, as well as 15 meeting rooms and two ballrooms that can seat from eight to 1,300 delegates.

Chaoyang district
Westin Beijing Chaoyang has 550 guestrooms and 1,100 sqm of meetings space, with its largest capacity able to hold 560 theatre style or 600 for a reception.

Closer to the Forbidden City, Legendale Hotel is one of the city’s more identifiable hotels and features its ornate Versailles Ballroom that holds 500 theatre style.

Regent Beijing is a 500-room property close to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. This low-rise property’s largest meeting space holds 800 for a reception.

The 255-room Hilton Wangfujing features entry-level room size of 50 sqm, one the city’s largest.

The 825-room Grand Hyatt is well located next to the Forbidden City and “the residence” meeting concept continues to impress meeting planners.

Fairmont Beijing is currently undergoing a phased opening with 80 rooms currently available at this high-end property. Its Hutong-themed meeting floor is fully operational and has a banquet kitchen facility.

Sofitel Wanda is the brand’s flagship Asia Pacific hotel and is set in Chaoyang District. It features 417 guestrooms and a 1,370 sqm ballroom that holds up to 1,250 people.

The 305-room Ritz-Carlton Beijing is one of the city’s best-appointed properties with an impressive 650 sqm ballroom that can be divided into four.

Marriott City Wall is the city’s largest hotel, with 1,312 rooms divided over four wings. It offers 22 meeting spaces, the largest of which holds 1,118 classroom style.

The 539-room JW Marriott has 14 meeting spaces and a ballroom that seats 1,100 people.

West Beijing
Westin Financial Street has recently launched its “from clutter to calm” package that encourages meeting planners and attendees to go paperless. The hotel’s offerings include unwrapped mints, double-sided meeting pads, tables that are clear and free of “clutter”.

The hotel’s largest meeting space holds 900 delegates and it also manages the Beijing Financial Street Conference Centre across the road, which has another 1,810 sqm of meeting and banquet space.

The 543-room Doubletree by Hilton features a rooftop garden and a ballroom that holds 270 theatre style.