NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen and Shanghai Airport Authority president Li Derun signed a memorandum of agreement at ABACE 2014 today to keep the annual Asian business aviation show at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport until at least 2021. The agreement doubles the life of the original five-year arrangement signed by the parties in June 2011. NBAA organizes the event in partnership with the Shanghai Airport Authority, with the Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) co-hosting the event.

“When we signed the agreement in 2011, we said that ABACE would put China at the center of the business aviation stage, attract the leading business aviation individuals and companies from around the world and showcase Asian companies, and it would reflect Asian characteristics, attract high-ranking government officials and quickly become one of the truly great business events in the world,” Bolen said today at a media event where the MoA was signed.

“Our promise has been kept, and our dream has been realized. ABACE has become one of the great aviation shows–a must-see, must-participate event,” he continued. “It is not just a great event, but an enduring one.”

There are 187 exhibitors at this year’s show, 73 of which are from Asia–more than doubling the 36 exhibitors from the region at ABACE 2012, the baseline year. There are also 38 aircraft on static display, including piston airplanes for the first time.