Business Travel and Study Tours in China

Business travel in China: trade shows, visits and professional stays

Planning a business trip to China, a trade show visit or a study tour for your team? China Roads helps you organise your stay around your objectives, appointments and schedule.

We handle projects throughout China: Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, as well as other cities and regions depending on your needs.

We build your trip around your objectives: meeting partners, attending a trade fair, exploring an industry or gaining a better understanding of developments in the Chinese economy. Our role is to coordinate your itinerary and on-the-ground logistics. You retain time for your appointments, with a programme tailored to your requirements and pace.

A stay in a single city requires a different approach from a trip covering several destinations. We work with you to create a coherent programme, taking distances and the time needed at each destination into account. With China Roads, you benefit from tailor-made support combining attendance at international trade shows, meetings with local businesses and cultural visits suited to the pace of a business trip.

Eric, your advisor

Based between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, our French-speaking advisor Eric draws on his experience as both a guide and a business professional to design realistic, practical programmes tailored to the needs of French companies. He helps you turn a straightforward visit to a trade show in Shenzhen into a genuine study tour, with targeted visits, opportunities for discussion and an immersion in contemporary China, where innovation meets tradition.

Tell us about your business travel project

Projects we support

A stay tailored to your professional objectives

A business trip requires a different approach from a sightseeing tour. Appointment times, transport arrangements and accommodation locations must all fit your schedule.

We can help with:

    • Individual business trips and travel for small teams.
    • Attendance at trade shows, fairs and conferences.
    • Study tours and business delegations.
    • Programmes exploring Chinese innovation and industry.
    • Stays combining business appointments and cultural visits.

Already have your contacts and appointments arranged? We organise your stay around that schedule. Would you like to add themed visits? We assess the options based on your sector and access requirements.

Across China, not just Shenzhen

Our support extends beyond Shenzhen and Hong Kong. We organise trips to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other Chinese destinations, depending on your project’s needs.

Your programme can focus on one city or connect several destinations. We help you organise travel between appointments, exhibition venues and accommodation.

We plan your stay around trade shows and fairs throughout China, including arrival before the event opens, accommodation selection, transfers and any additional stops.

Tell us the event’s name, its dates and any appointments you have already confirmed. We then build a coherent programme, clearly distinguishing travel services from each trade show’s registration and accreditation requirements.

Arrangements built around your schedule

We start by defining your priorities: destinations, appointments, group size, budget and available time.

Depending on your project, arrangements include accommodation, travel between destinations, transfers and local support. Requirements for guides, interpreting or assistance during appointments are specified in the proposal.

We also pay close attention to travel time. An overly packed programme leaves little room for discussion or unexpected changes. We favour a realistic itinerary, with time buffers between the main stages.

Plan my trip to a trade show in China

Sample programme: meetings, discussions and on-site case studies

Programme themes and key areas

We are developing a study tour programme in China focused on digital transformation and retail innovation. Depending on your needs, it may include:

    • Post-Covid China: an overview of the political, economic and digital landscape to understand the context in which tech giants and emerging players operate.
    • Meetings with tech giants such as Alibaba, Tencent and PDD to gain a better understanding of platforms, AI, cloud computing and new digital consumption models.
    • Meetings with local retailers such as FamilyMart, 7-Eleven and other convenience store chains to observe how digital technologies are integrated into physical retail and everyday services.
    • Meetings with local agencies specialising in emerging markets, technology and AI—livestreaming, key opinion leaders (KOLs), content creation, social commerce and more—to understand how brands develop their presence in China today.

Each stop offers an opportunity to discuss professionals’ practices, innovations and perspectives on the market.

Store visits, new technologies and sightseeing

The programme also includes:

    • Store visits to discover flagship and concept stores and experience the customer journey in China, for example at Xiaomi, Huawei, Pop Mart and other brands representative of the local ecosystem.
    • Hands-on experiences with new technologies: drone delivery, driverless taxis, service robotics, advanced payment and identification solutions, and more.
    • Sightseeing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, giving your teams time to unwind and explore historic neighbourhoods, skyline viewpoints, local cuisine and urban walking routes.
    • Debriefing sessions and workshops to organise feedback, share lessons learned and consider how these insights could be applied to your own business challenges.

Examples of potential company and site visits

Professional visits are planned around your industry and what you want to explore: automotive manufacturing, robotics, home appliances, drones or urban technologies.

The companies below are possible starting points for developing a programme. Their inclusion in this list does not mean that visits are open to the public or that an appointment is guaranteed. Each request depends on the company’s approval, the site concerned, the dates and the participants’ profiles.

Depending on permissions, availability and the sectors targeted, visits or presentations may be considered with major players such as:

    • JD.com, for example a robotic warehouse, to illustrate logistics automation and large-scale rapid delivery.
    • Alibaba (e-commerce, cloud computing and AI) and Tencent (the WeChat ecosystem, gaming and digital services), to understand the pillars of China’s digital economy.
    • Huawei (telecommunications and devices) and PDD / Temu (new e-commerce models focused on price and volume).
    • AI specialists such as SenseTime, or robotics and household equipment companies such as Ecovacs, to explore practical applications in retail, security and smart homes.
    • “Tech pitch for retail” sessions, where local players present their solutions and answer your teams’ questions.

Companies in Guangdong

    • BYD — Shenzhen
      Founded in 1995 and based in Shenzhen, BYD develops electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, as well as battery technologies. It offers a potential opportunity to explore the links between energy storage, electric mobility and industrial production.
    • Skyworth — Shenzhen-based group
      Skyworth operates in electronics and smart home appliances, including refrigerators, washing machines and kitchen equipment. A themed visit could explore connected products and the transformation of the home appliance sector. The location to consider depends on the relevant division and industrial site.
    • DJI — Shenzhen
      Founded in Shenzhen in 2006, DJI is a major company in the drone sector. It offers a potential opportunity to discover aerial imaging applications, flight control technologies and professional uses of drones.
    • Jiechuang Intelligent — Guangzhou
      Jiechuang Intelligent develops solutions for smart cities and security. This company is a potential option for a programme focused on urban technologies and their applications. The information reviewed places its headquarters in Guangzhou, rather than Shenzhen.
    • GAC Group — Guangzhou
      GAC Group is an automotive group based in Guangzhou. Its activities and brands, including Aion and Trumpchi, offer opportunities to explore automotive production and the transition towards electric mobility.
    • XPeng Motors — Guangzhou
      Founded in 2014 and based in Guangzhou, XPeng develops electric vehicles featuring driver-assistance technologies and in-vehicle interfaces. It is of interest to professionals in the automotive, software and connected mobility sectors.
    • KUKA — Shunde, Foshan
      The KUKA industrial park in Shunde includes robotics and automation operations. It offers a potential opportunity to understand applications in industrial robotics, automated logistics and smart manufacturing.
    • Vanward — Foshan
      Vanward is among the companies to consider for a programme focused on gas appliances, water heaters and household equipment. The relevant site and opportunities for meetings will need to be clarified when preparing the project.

Programmes in other regions of China

This selection focuses on Guangdong, but our support covers the whole of China. We also explore programmes in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu or any other destination relevant to your business.

Depending on the options available, the programme combines site visits, demonstration spaces, trade shows and visits to business districts. Access and appointments are confirmed before being incorporated into your stay.

These examples are indicative and are adapted on a case-by-case basis according to your sector, objectives and current local constraints.

The Shenzhen day trip

We already offer a day trip to Shenzhen, at the heart of Chinese innovation.

This day introduces practical applications of new technologies: robotaxis, drone delivery and visits to stores or demonstration spaces, subject to the services’ operating conditions. It complements a business stay without replacing a factory visit or a company meeting.

We include it in a Guangdong programme when the itinerary and available time allow.

Discover our Shenzhen innovation day

Eric’s expertise: where business meets travel

20 years of experience with multinational companies

Before joining China Roads as an advisor specialising in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Eric spent more than 20 years working with multinational companies in a multicultural environment. He has worked with groups such as IBM, Air France, Décathlon, Boulanger and Electro Dépôt, giving him a detailed understanding of the expectations and constraints of corporate teams on overseas assignments.

This business experience enables him to speak the same language as your marketing, digital, innovation and retail teams, and to work with you to build programmes that are both inspiring and practical.

Contact Eric about my business trip to China

Tried-and-tested discovery trips and retail tours

Since 2018, we have co-organised several learning expeditions and retail tours in China, with a particular focus on digital transformation. Companies that have participated include Leroy Merlin, Boulanger, Bricoman, CDiscount and E.Leclerc, seeking on-the-ground market insights and inspiration from retail and customer experiences in China.

These trips generally combine:

    • Visits to innovative flagship and concept stores.
    • Meetings with local players: retailers, agencies and tech platforms.
    • Debriefing sessions and workshops to turn observations into practical ideas for your teams.

Organising a learning expedition in China

A professional framework for your teams

A business trip to China can take several forms depending on your objectives: business development, market intelligence, team building or cross-cultural discovery. We work with you to create a tailor-made programme, for example:

    • Attendance at an international trade show in Shenzhen—technology, logistics, industry, tourism and more—with carefully scheduled free time to explore the city and meet local partners.
    • A study tour for a French company in China, combining visits to industrial sites and innovation districts with meetings with Chinese companies operating in your sector.
    • Themed days focused on innovation, smart cities and new forms of mobility, supported by a French-speaking guide familiar with the local area, everyday practices and cultural conventions.

We take your time constraints, budget and team availability into account to propose a realistic programme that fits naturally into your business travel schedule.

Cross-cultural understanding at the heart of the trip

Beyond B2B appointments, a business trip to China is also an opportunity to better understand Chinese approaches to working, negotiating and communicating. We can incorporate the following into your programme:

    • Discussions with local contacts about management practices, customer relations, innovation and the pace of work in China.
    • Debriefing and cross-cultural interpretation sessions with your guide to help you understand attitudes, non-verbal communication, group dynamics and hierarchy.
    • Everyday experiences—public transport, street food and local neighbourhoods—to get a feel for the reality of urban life in China beyond the meeting room.

The aim is for your colleagues to return not only with business cards, but also with a deeper understanding of China that will support your long-term business relationships.