THE PORT ADELAIDE Football Club is taking part in the largest business and trade exhibition the world has ever seen as part of a 200-strong Australian delegation.

Port Adelaide is hosting a display at the China International Import Exhibition (CIIE) in Shanghai this week.

The exhibition is expected to attract 180,000 people each day and is being held at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre, which is the world’s single block building and exhibition complex.

To get an understanding of the sheer scale of the place, its exhibition hall is around 35,000 square metres, compared with about 10,000 square metres of exhibition space at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

The CIIE is one of President Xi's top four foreign policy events for 2018 and features exhibits from 66 countries.

Port Adelaide’s involvement is aimed at helping people who have not been exposed to AFL get an understanding of the game including its history and the history of the club’s involvement in Shanghai.

“Port Adelaide and our annual game in Shanghai is part of Australia’s effort to promote the nation in China – and that transcends trade, sport, culture and tourism,” said Port Adelaide’s General Manager – China Engagement, Andrew Hunter.

“This is a really significant event for China and for the world, being the largest trade expo ever, and it shows that we are very much a part of the landscape of what Australia is doing in China.

 “Being here is a statement of our ambition and intention to be here in China very much for the long-term.

“Australian companies and the Australian Government recognise the benefits of what we are doing in China and this is now about providing continual exposure of AFL and the Port Adelaide brand to people in China.

“It is about creating a greater awareness of and engagement with what we are doing to bring the game and the club to our biggest trade partner.”

Part of the club’s exhibit features virtual reality headsets which give participants an opportunity to have a range of AFL-related experiences including what it is like to run out onto Adelaide Oval with the Power players.

With so many visitors each day, it provides a unique opportunity to grow the understanding of AFL in front of a huge audience.

“There are eight different pavilions as part of the CIIE and we’re in the cultural, tourism and services pavilion and there are tens of thousands of people rolling through every day,” Mr Hunter said.

“We wanted to give them an experience of our game, which doesn’t have a strong resonance for people in China.

“We could show them pictures or videos but this is a very technologically savvy nation of people so to be able to use virtual reality to give them an experience.

“It makes people feel a part of the game, and it gives it a unique capacity to experience something completely different to what they can see and touch in China.”

Port Adelaide’s involvement in the CIIE comes after it held a China launch of its three-year agreement to hold an AFL game for premiership points against St Kilda in front of a large contingent of Chinese media.

Among those in attendance along with Port Adelaide Chief Executive Keith Thomas and Chairman of Shanghai CRED, Mr Gui Goujie were the Federal Minster for Trade and Investment, Simon Birmingham, the Australian Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, Jan Adams and Australian Consul-General in Shanghai, Graeme Meehan.

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