Designed to be a major platform for the country's import expansion, the China International Import Expo, or CIIE, which is now in its second year, has received a warm welcome from companies at home and abroad.
Proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2017, the inaugural expo was held in Shanghai in November and was a great success in promoting trade and business with the value of transactions and intended deals topping $57.8 billion.
According to the organizer, many exhibitors from the first expo have signed up for the second year, and by the time registration ended in May, more than 3,000 companies from 150 countries and regions had confirmed their attendance and will come to showcase their products.
"Due to the enthusiastic response, we launched registration for the third expo in August, and have already received many inquiries and reservations," said Zhou Lingyan, deputy general manager of the CIIE exhibition department of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai).
"The expo is unique in that it requires all exhibitors to be overseas companies, and their goods must be produced overseas," she said.
The business exhibition is divided into seven sectors, covering industries including automobiles, manufacturing equipment, food and agriculture, medical equipment and consumer goods.
New elements, such as autonomous driving technology and elderly care services, will also be added, and the total business exhibition area has increased from 270,000 square meters to 300,000 square meters.
"This expo is so diverse that we can meet people from different industries and discover various opportunities," said Ma Zheng, vice-president of Cargill China, adding that the agriculture and food conglomerate signed contracts worth $2.4 billion during last year's expo with Chinese clients importing a variety of goods such as cotton, soy beans and beef.
"Because Cargill offers a wide range of products, the expo gives us a stage for an all-around display of the company to let people know us better," he said. "We have booked an exhibition area two times bigger than last year."
Besides returning exhibitors like Cargill, there will also be many first-time exhibitors in the upcoming expo. Among them is KPMG, one of the world's Big Four accounting firms.
"As CIIE will foster more trade, connectivity and trust building, it will create many opportunities for us," said David Ko, head of audit at KPMG China.
"CIIE provides a great platform for us, it will provide strong exposure for the firm through meetings with high-level government officials, influential trade professionals, including lots of existing and potential customers," he said. "KPMG will bring the latest digital innovations and technology to this year's expo in audit, tax and advisory services."
At the start of the 100-day countdown to the second expo, Sun Chenghai, deputy director of the CIIE Bureau, said: "The number of exhibition areas, new product releases and Fortune 500 companies and industry-leading companies for the second year have all exceeded those of last year's expo." He added that the expo will invite more buyers from the private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, as the registration for professional visitors has been extended by one month compared with last year, and will be open through Sept 30.In order to attract more domestic buyers to the expo, road shows have been running in more than a dozen major cities since June. Each includes an introduction to the expo and presentations by a few exhibitors that dovetail with the major local industry.
The road show held in early August in Changchun, capital of Jilin province, focused on the healthcare and automobile industries. "There is a great demand for medical equipment among local companies," said Gao Feng, chairman of the Jilin business chamber of healthcare. "We estimate that the number of local medical companies to participate in the expo will be four times more than last year."
Bordering Shanghai, Kunshan in Jiangsu province is home to many manufacturing factories, and it hosted a CIIE road show focused on manufacturing equipment on Aug 22.
Zhou Xudong, mayor of Kunshan, said the city will actively participate in the expo, and leverage its proximity with Shanghai to hold related activities that will help local businesses purchase advanced equipment and technology to serve the high-quality development of the city's manufacturing industry.
During the expo, a country pavilion will be set up to display the achievements in trade and investment of about 60 countries.
The Hongqiao International Economic Forum, which focuses on open economy, innovation and cooperation with four parallel forums, will also be held as part of the expo.
Dong Yan, a researcher of international trade at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "The import expo is an example of China's further opening of its market, and it will serve as a new platform for global trade."
CIIE gave us a fantastic stage to display our full portfolio of testing, inspection and certification services to Chinese customers, and elevated our brand awareness and brought us quality sales leads as our booth received thousands of visitors last year.
In this year's expo, one of our highlights will be 5G testing, as SGS provides testing and certification for thousands of devices including mobile phones, tablets, telematics units, chipsets and models covering 2G to 5G.
It's encouraging to see China's commitment to further opening up markets to foreign companies by providing broader market access, protecting intellectual property, and guaranteeing a level playing field.
The continuous development of the Chinese economy creates increasing business opportunities for testing and inspection companies like SGS, as the Chinese government is introducing more policies to encourage manufacturers to raise quality standards through technological innovations and Chinese customers are paying more attention to the quality, safety and sustainability of products.
Sandy Hao, general manager of SGS China Consumer and Retail Portfolio
At last year's CIIE, our group officially launched the International Merchandise Exchange & Exhibition, which provides cross-border e-commerce platform and supply chain services to overseas clients entering the Chinese market, and it was recognized as one of the expo's permanent exhibition and trade platforms.
At the exhibition, we were able to communicate and discuss cooperation with potential business partners from all over the world, effectively building a strong foundation for the launch of IMX. Participating in the expo provides us a much needed opportunity to have efficient communication with a large quantity of business partners.
There is a strong alignment between CIIE and IMX. Increasing good-quality foreign products, services and companies entering China will not only promote China's structural transformation and upgrading, but also strengthen competition in the domestic market and improve the overall business environment. This will in turn create more opportunities for IMX.
Henry Chan, vice-chairman and executive president, King Wai Group
KPMG is a global network of professional services firms. A large part of its business is generated through inbound and outbound trade activities. CIIE will foster more regional and global trade, connectivity and trust building. This creates many opportunities for KPMG to advise companies on their investments and help them to expand their business.
Through CIIE we can see a huge amount of collaboration that will be key to unlock the potential of social and economic development, while allowing companies to access new market opportunities, to achieve synergies and to manage risks.
KPMG has been working on explaining the implications of CIIE, and to suggest ways in which companies from China and around the world can work together to achieve win-win outcomes.
David Ko, head of audit, KPMG China
At last year's expo, we showcased the many services we customized for Chinese guests; before visiting CIIE, many visitors were unaware that so many brands they had been familiar with, including Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, W Hotels, Sheraton, and Westin, were all part of the Marriott International family.
Marriott was one of the first exhibitors to confirm its attendance at the second CIIE. We contracted right at the end of the first Expo for a space twice the size of our previous stand. This year, we will display more products and services that are newer and more appealing.
The hotel industry was one of the first industries in China to establish joint ventures once the country became open for business on the world stage and many benefits have accrued over the past 40 years. We are confident that China will continue to open itself up to the world and attract foreign investment. CIIE is a living testament to that.
Jo Chen, manager of communications, Marriott China
China has expanded and accelerated its growth by having access to the global market, and other countries will expand their growth having access to China. CIIE is an event designed to boost imports to China.
For us it is an excellent platform to demonstrate to the market our services, technologies and solutions, and also to solicit input from existing or potential customers of what drives them in today's import process for China-what works well, what problems and challenges do they see in the supply chain.
As a result, we have been able to better align our solutions in the market, especially to the needs of small-and middle-sized enterprises, who might have only a few employees and might not have the expertise to deal with business on a global level.
This is my third year working in China. I think this event is designed for us to develop relationships, and good relations will result in business. I see this as a first step in a long-standing customer relationship.
Harld Peters, president, UPS China
We were the only firm in the infrastructure consulting industry to exhibit in the first CIIE, and had an active participation in the expo last year. We think the expo's theme of New Era, Shared Future is a good fit with our company's vision, which is to build a better world.
The benefits of participating in CIIE include meeting diversified customers and enhancing our communication with local governments. This year, we will leverage that opportunity by holding two events-organizing a City's Vision Symposium on Future Mobility and launching the Chinese version of AECOM's annual global research report Future of Infrastructure: Voice of the People. The report will show how major cities around the world address their problems in city development, which will be a good reference for future urbanization in China.
AECOM welcomes the further opening of market access and a more open and optimized business environment in China, so that our resources and experiences can further contribute to China's future development.
Ian Chung, chief executive, AECOM China