By Du Yifei, People’s Daily
The seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held in Shanghai from November 5 to 10. The total contracted exhibition area has reached 366,000 square meters, and more than 2,000 companies from over 100 countries and regions have confirmed their participation so far.
Over 70 countries and international organizations are scheduled to join the Country Exhibition, including first-timers such as Norway, Slovakia, Benin, Burundi, Madagascar, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Free exhibition booths will be provided to exhibitors from 35 least developed countries, to facilitate the entry of their unique products into the Chinese market.
As the world’s first national-level import-themed expo, the CIIE has seen an expanded “circle of friends” over the past seven years. It has served as a window for fostering a new development pattern that creates new opportunities for the world through China’s further development, and as a platform of high-standard opening-up that allows China’s enormous market to be shared by the world, providing shared international public goods and services that facilitate an open world economy.
The vibrant annual CIIE has become more and more attractive to global exhibitors. Deus Nuwagaba, chief operating officer of the Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance, has been preparing for the seventh CIIE, as the coffee harvest season arrived in Uganda.
On a coffee plantation on the slopes of Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda, where coffee trees spread out in a lush and green expanse, Nuwagaba was overseeing the purchases and sales of coffee beans. “I’ll bring these coffee beans to China!” said Nuwagaba.
The CIIE has become a prominent platform for innovation, with a wide range of new products, cutting-edge technologies, and high-quality services making their debuts every year. For instance, at the sixth CIIE last year, a total of 442 new products, technologies, and services were launched, offering splendid exhibitions for the global audience.
It is reported that this year, the expo’s technology and equipment exhibition area will, for the first time, feature a new materials section to accelerate the development of new quality productive forces. Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders from the United States, Japan, Germany, Singapore, Brazil and Italy, among others, as well as “hidden champions” that lead global niche markets, have confirmed to join this new section.
During the first CIIE in 2018, Medtronic, one of the largest medical device companies in the world, exhibited the world’s smallest cardiac pacemaker that weighs only about 2 grams, garnering widespread attention.
Medtronic has participated in the CIIE for six consecutive years, presenting over 300 innovative products and treatments, including more than 50 debut products. Over 10 innovative products and treatments have transitioned from exhibits to traded goods.
Alex Gu, senior vice president of Medtronic, said that China’s vast population and the government’s focus on public health indicate enormous potential in the Chinese market.
He noted that Medtronic has always been optimistic about the Chinese market and firmly believes that China will become the world’s largest medical market and an innovation hub for medical technologies.
“Leveraging the platform of the CIIE, Medtronic is rapidly bringing innovative products to the Chinese market, while enhancing its local research and production capabilities and developing the value chain in China,” Gu said.
The seventh Hongqiao International Economic Forum, an important part of the CIIE, themed “High-Standard Opening up for Universally Beneficial and Inclusive Economic Globalization,” will include a main forum and 19 sub-forums.
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), a world leader in container shipping, has participated in the CIIE multiple times and has been operating and investing in the Chinese market for over 20 years with expanded business scope.
According to Soren Toft, CEO of MSC, the world economy today still faces many uncertainties. China is committed to open cooperation and creating a better economic and trade environment, providing crucial support for the stability and smooth flows of the global industrial and supply chains.
Toft said that the high-level international exhibitions such as the CIIE, Canton Fair, and China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) held by China have provided mutually beneficial cooperation platforms for enterprises from various countries. This demonstrates China’s determination to expand opening-up and contributes to global economic recovery and development.
The CIIE is China’s major initiative to still widen market access to the rest of the world and a concrete action by China to advance an open world economy and support economic globalization.
By making the pie of opening up bigger and the list of cooperation longer, China will continue to achieve its own development through open cooperation, thereby making greater contributions to global economic stability and prosperity.
