Preface

This book is the outcome of an intellectual discourse, which started many years ago and finally culminated in this handbook.

The editors like to thank all the authors who contributed to this publication. All articles have been written specifically for this book. The research results presented are the result of work specifically done for this project.

The editors like to express their gratitude as well to the two organisations which run the joint study programme International Event Management Shanghai (IEMS): Hochschule Osnabrück, University of Applied Sciences and Shanghai University of Business and Economics, formerly: Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade (SIFT). The programme, which started in 2004 allowed for numerous interactions between scholars from China and Germany.

(IEMS) 2004

This handbook is also the first major publication in the framework of IEMS. On occasion of the 10th anniversary of IEMS, the International Research Institute for the Event Industry has been founded in Shanghai and Osnabrück. We are looking forward to more publications on the Chinese event market initiated by this new research institution.

IEMS IEMS

This book would not have been possible without the excellent work of those who helped in bringing manuscripts into a publishable shape. The work of Cai Yanwen who studies international business and management in Osnabrück was particularly helpful. Her diligence in working with the submitted drafts, harmonizing the approach towards structure and referencing was extremely useful. The book has been published in English which is not the mother tongue of most of the authors. Teresa Gehrs and Clare Gray in Germany did an outstanding work. Isaac Aamidor, Xiang Shujie, Guo Zi’ang, Yang Siqi, Chen Tianqi, Tan Qingzhu, Jiao Jie, Qiu Wenqian, and Zhu Wanling in Shanghai contributed as well towards the translation or the polishing of the English of Chinese authors. Last but not least we would like to thank Anja Cheong, De Gruyter Oldenbourg, for her invaluable support.

Given the enormous potential of China’s event market, the editors of this handbook hope that the articles of this handbook find many readers and stimulate further academic work on the development of this market.

Berlin, Osnabrück and Shanghai, July 2015

2015 7

Helmut Schwägermann, Peter Mayer, Ding Yi