CIIE leads global development to new, bright prospects

By Guo Jiping, People’s Daily

The sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) from Nov. 5 to 10.

The CIIE, a pioneering event in the history of international trade development, has become a showcase of China’s new development pattern, a platform for high-level opening-up, and a public good shared by the whole world.

This year’s CIIE fully resumes offline activities, and is expected to welcome guests from 154 countries, regions, and international organizations. So far, 69 countries and three international organizations have confirmed their participation in the Country Exhibition. Over 3,400 exhibitors and nearly 410,000 professional visitors have registered for the event, with a record number of Global Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders in attendance.

Since the first CIIE, many participating companies have expressed similar sentiments, speaking of the tremendous appeal of the event. Some said they would bring their best and latest products to the event, and some promised to introduce their countries’ specialties. For them, the CIIE brings not just orders, but also the future and hopes.

The achievements of the past five editions of the CIIE have been remarkable: 131 countries and international organizations participated in the Country Exhibition; over 15,000 exhibitors joined the Business Exhibition; the cumulative number of registered visitors exceeded 2 million; the cumulative intended turnover amounted to $350 billion.

The CIIE not only attracts multinational companies, but also gathers upstream and downstream enterprises, providing opportunities for cooperation for various industries to reorganize and optimize themselves on a global scale. Many exhibitors said that at the CIIE, they can deepen exchanges with companies and partners in the same industry or even across industries, and discuss cooperation prospects together.

The previous five sessions of the CIIE have seen debuts of around 2,000 new and innovative products, technologies and services, including intelligent mobile hospitals, hydrogen-fueled concept cars, direct-injection digital printers, and vertical farms. It has become an incubator for technological innovation with global impact.

The CIIE also provides free standard booths and fee reduction measures for the least developed countries. It has been joined by enterprises from 43 least developed countries in the previous five sessions.

With the help of the CIIE, products such as coffee from Timor-Leste, pine nuts from Afghanistan, and cashews from Cambodia have achieved unprecedented sales in the Chinese market.

The “CIIE effect” continues to amplify. The Hongqiao Import Commodity Exhibition and Trading Center provides a permanent exhibition and sales platform for small and medium-sized enterprises participating in the CIIE. Since the first CIIE, Shanghai has recognized a total of 60 “6+365” trading platforms and introduced nearly 270,000 types of exhibits, with a cumulative import value of over 323 billion yuan ($44.22 billion).

German multinational glass company Schott AG said the CIIE presents a vivid and lively representation of the entire Chinese market. The company participated in the first CIIE with a “give it a try” attitude. From then on, it attended the expo every year, increased its investment and even established new factories in China.

The head of Schott China stated that with the expo, the company has achieved unparalleled growth, and continuing to invest in the Chinese market is a strategic choice for the future.

Thanks to the CIIE, exhibits have turned into commodities and exhibitors have become investors. An increasing number of multinational corporations are deeply integrated into China’s industrial and innovation networks.

Since the beginning of this year, multinational companies have continued to increase investment and expand production in China, with projects progressing at a faster pace. Global refrigeration industry giant Danfoss has put into operation a global refrigeration R&D testing center, German chemical giant BASF’s integrated base has started construction on its syngas facility in Zhanjiang, south China’s Guangdong province, and Airbus has begun construction on its second final assembly line for the A320 series aircraft in Tianjin.

In the first nine months of this year, China has established 37,814 new foreign-invested enterprises, with a year-on-year increase of 32.4 percent.

The CIIE mirrors the resilience and vitality of the Chinese economy, to deepen reform and pursue high-quality development through greater openness.

For some time now, the global economic recovery has faced headwinds, but China has withstood the pressures and continued its rebound, with its economic growth among the highest in major economies worldwide.

China is steadfastly pushing for higher-level opening up, and actively expanding imports. It has remained the world’s second-largest import market for 14 consecutive years. With a population of over 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of over 400 million people, China constitutes the world’s second-largest consumer market and the largest online retail market.

Kenneth Jarrett, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, noted that many companies with global markets need to achieve economies of scale, and if they don’t come to China, they won’t be able to reach the economic scale needed to maintain global competitiveness.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that opening up is the hallmark of contemporary China. In his keynote speeches and addresses delivered at the previous five sessions of the CIIE, the word “openness” was mentioned over 100 times. The measures he announced at the CIIE to expand opening up have been gradually implemented, effectively promoting new progress in high-level opening-up.

China has established the Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, implemented an integrated development strategy in the Yangtze River Delta region, released an overall plan for the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, further expanded reform and opening up in Shenzhen, continuously improved business environment, and strengthened intellectual property protection.

China has deepened reform by opening up, and conversely, pursued deeper reforms to enable greater openness. This benefits not only China’s own development but also the world.

The CIIE belongs not just to China, but to the world. Looking ahead, China is willing to work together with all countries to practice true multilateralism, build a greater consensus of openness, jointly overcome the difficulties and challenges facing global economic development, and usher in a brighter future for development worldwide through opening up.