Trade shows: growing in China, diminishing elsewhere?

Jim Turner has a couple of thought-provoking posts on his Convention Insider blog:

Trade shows in China more prominent than in U.S., in which he talks about the health of the trade show business in that part of the world; and

The death of the trade show, and how the rise of the Internet in general, and search engines in particular, are causing a decline in the exhibition industry. I'm not sure I buy the latter, but it is interesting, and check the links from his post for the full argument (note: the arguer has a vested interest in taking this position).