The award was bestowed at the Ninth China MICE Industry Golden Chair Awards ceremony in Beijing. (MICE is the acronym for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions.)

Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) chief executive officer Zulkefli Sharif said the award was testament to the nation’s capabilities and expertise in hosting business events on a global scale.

“It is an achievement to be proud of,” he said in a statement.

Throughout last year, MyCEB hosted many large international conferences, exhibitions, meetings and incentives groups.

“China is one of the top markets for corporate meetings and incentives, contributing 25 per cent of this sector’s arrivals.

“Last year, Malaysia welcomed the Perfect China Incentive & Travel Seminar group that brought in 6,000 participants and the Infinitus Jiyang Overseas Training trip that saw some 4,800 participants,” said Zulkefli.

He added that getting the award in China was particularly meaningful, given the close bilateral ties between the countries.

Last year, MyCEB supported 214 business events – 78 conventions, 112 corporate meetings/incentives and 24 trade exhibitions – in Malaysia.

These events accounted for 108,105 international delegates and raked in 825 million ringgit in visitor expenditure.

They also created an economic impact of 1.3 billion ringgit.

The China MICE Industry Golden Chair Awards is an authoritative award granted by MICE Magazine to commend hotels, destinations, airline companies and travel agencies.

Winners of the award are selected by trade reputation and reader feedback, and evaluated by a panel of experts from November 2015 until January 2016.