The National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, venue for the annual China International Import Expo (CIIE). [Photo/IC]

Latest edition of the CIIE will further promote global trade and the opening-up of China's market to significantly benefit countries around the world

As the world's first import-themed national exhibition, the China International Import Expo is becoming a new and popular channel for global companies to share China's huge market, experts say.

Proposed in 2017, the expo marks China's new round of advancing high-level opening-up and further expanding its market access to the rest of the world, according to its organizers.

Statistics showed the volume of trade deals with a letter of intent totaled $201.6 billion in the expo from 2018 to 2020, which played an important role in promoting China's import expansion and helping foreign enterprises explore the Chinese market.

In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the world economy is facing more destabilizing and uncertain factors, but China is still speeding up its opening-up. Based on the latest WTO data, China's international market share of imports increased by 0.7 percentage points year-on-year to 12 percent in the first half of this year, contributing 15 percent of the global import increment.

By the end of 2020, the country had become the second largest import market in the world for 12 consecutive years and was the main export destination of many countries and regions.

At a recent regular news conference held by the Ministry of Commerce, spokeswoman Shu Jueting said China has unswervingly promoted high-level opening to the outside world and actively expanded imports.

"China will continue to uphold the opening-up, cooperation, unity and win-win concept; give full play to the CIIE and other platforms; strengthen the development of the national import trade innovation and demonstration areas; improve the level of trade liberalization and facilitation; and further optimize the business environment," Shu said.

It will share development opportunities during the opening-up and promote world economic recovery together with other countries and regions, she added.

The fourth CIIE is set to be held from Nov 5 to 10 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai. Activities will include business exhibition, Hongqiao Forum, country exhibition and a series of professional supporting events.

A key part of the expo, the Hongqiao Forum this year will focus on the opportunities and challenges of global economic development in the post-COVID-19 era, highlight open development and innovation, and provide a high-end dialogue platform for the global political and business academic community, organizers said.

The forum will also for the first time set up two parallel sessions centering on China's strategic areas, one of which is the High-level Reform and Opening-up of Pudong, China and Building an Open World Economy hosted by the Shanghai government, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Commerce.

Pudong was born out of reform and opening-up and has flourished because of it. Over the past 31 years, the new area has witnessed the establishment of many of China's firsts, including the first financial trade zone, the first bonded zone and the first pilot free trade zone. Currently, 171 countries and regions have made investment there.

On July 15, the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council released a guideline to support the high-level reform and opening-up of Pudong and build Pudong into a pioneer area for socialist modernization, which has offered unprecedented development opportunities to the new area.

Given this background, the subforums will focus on further aligning with the new rules of international trade and economy, promoting high-level institutional opening-up, enhancing the ability to allocate global resources and exploring a new development pattern.

It will also host a promotion conference to display Pudong's innovation vitality and development charm, to attract more investment.

Another important part is the business exhibition. This year, it will have six sectors－trade in services, automobiles, food and agricultural products, consumer goods, medical equipment and healthcare products, and intelligent industry and information technology.

Nearly 3,000 companies from 127 countries and regions have confirmed to join the event.

From a turnover of nearly $58 billion in the first session in 2018 to $72 billion worth of cooperation intention deals reached in the third session in 2020, the CIIE is living up to the promise of getting better.

The fourth expo will also attract some "new friends", including Fortune Global 500 companies. Attending the expo for the first time, German chemical giant Covestro is optimistic about green and low-carbon development in China.

The company will showcase products in the fields of renewable energy, new energy vehicles, green building, electronic and electrical industries with the theme of "leading in circular economy and creating a low-carbon future".

In addition to the business exhibition, the country exhibition is also an important component of the CIIE and serves as a vital platform to facilitate diplomacy.

For the first time, the fourth CIIE country exhibition will be held online by utilizing visual reality and 3D modeling technologies to build digital pavilions. Participants can showcase their images of trade and investment, leading industries, culture and tourism, and representative enterprises via pictures and videos.

So far, digital pavilions of 29 countries, regions and international organizations have been operating on a trial basis, including Argentina, Ireland, Spain, Peru and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

Luis Quesada, Peruvian ambassador to China, said the CIIE sends a strong message to the world that China is playing an active role in promoting global trade, and this has gotten Peruvian enterprises excited about the resulting opportunities that will be created. Peruvian companies are looking forward to participating in the fourth CIIE, as the national-level trade fair helps them gain access to the country's huge market, he added.

China's former ambassador to the United Kingdom Liu Xiaoming also said the CIIE will create valuable opportunities for the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the rest of the world.

Laurent Bili, French ambassador to China, said the annual trade fair shows the country is intensifying its efforts to open up domestic market for high-quality and green products, which greatly benefits companies from France, as well as other countries.

France is an important trading partner of China and also an active participant in the CIIE. More than 100 French companies were involved in the third session of the expo or related activities last year. France was also a guest of honor at the second CIIE in 2019.

Colombian Ambassador to China Luis Diego Monsalve said the CIIE is a "good place" to promote Colombian exports to China, even during these difficult times caused by the pandemic.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn