A Nio ES6 on display at the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2025. Credit: CnEVPost.
- The exhibition is expected to cover 400,000 square meters, exceeding the 2026 Beijing Auto Show’s 380,000 square meters.
- Beijing and Shanghai will continue alternating comprehensive auto shows, with Beijing’s March 2027 event designated as a specialized exhibition.
The 2027 Shanghai Auto Show will run from April 23 to May 2 next year, covering an expected 400,000 square meters and adding a dedicated embodied AI (artificial intelligence) zone.
The event’s organizers announced the schedule at a news conference on Tuesday. The twenty-second Shanghai Auto Show will take place at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai).
The event will expand its scope beyond cars to smart hardware, reflecting the growing convergence of automotive technology and AI.
The organizers said the show will introduce an embodied AI zone and showcase applications of technologies including physical AI and advanced chips, helping extend automotive technologies into a broader range of smart hardware.
Through vehicle and technology debuts, conferences and application demonstrations, the show also aims to help international companies expand in China and Chinese companies enter overseas markets.
The 2027 event is expected to exceed the 2026 Beijing Auto Show’s 380,000 square meters. The Beijing event drew 1.28 million visits and displayed 1,451 vehicles, including 181 debuts.
The 2025 Shanghai Auto Show attracted nearly 1,000 companies from 26 countries and regions, with an exhibition area exceeding 360,000 square meters.
The schedule was announced 1 day after bodies overseeing the Beijing and Shanghai shows confirmed that the cities would continue alternating comprehensive auto shows.
According to a statement issued on September 7, comprehensive shows will continue to be held in April in Beijing in even-numbered years and Shanghai in odd-numbered years. Beijing will separately host a specialized exhibition in March 2027.
The arrangement clarified earlier speculation over whether the Beijing Auto Show would become an annual event and established distinct roles for the 2 cities’ shows in the same year.
The Shanghai and Beijing auto shows began in 1985 and 1990, respectively, and have alternated between odd- and even-numbered years since 2003.
The 2027 Shanghai Auto Show will also span the May Day holiday. Organizers plan to link the event with the city’s commercial, cultural and tourism activities to broaden its appeal to the public and overseas visitors.
Following the April 2026 event, the Beijing Auto Show will return in March 2027 as a specialized themed exhibition.
