The first China International Import Expo (CIIE) was held from November 5 to 10 in Shanghai under the theme of "New Era, Shared Future." With an exhibition area of 300,000 square meters, the expo received participants from 172 countries, regions and international organizations. More than 3,600 enterprises showcased their products and services at the event, while over 400,000 buyers from home and abroad attended the expo for business negotiations and deals.
A man tries to shake hands with SCHUNK 5-finger gripper during the China International Import Expo (CIIE), at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, China, on Nov. 6, 2018. (Photo: VCG)
Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan briefed People's Daily on the features and highlights of the first CIIE, as well as the achievements made at the expo.
The first CIIE comprised of exhibitions and forums. The exhibition area consisted of two parts - the Country Pavilion for Trade and Investment and the Business exhibition halls. The Country Pavilion for Trade and Investment was designed to showcase the national image and development achievements of the relevant countries and regions and was exclusively reserved for country exhibitions, not for business transactions. The Business exhibition halls were comprised of seven different exhibition areas for both trade in goods and trade in services.
The event was attended by 3,617 enterprises. More than 800,000 people visited the CIIE exhibition area for business negotiations, procurement, as well as sightseeing, sealing $57.8 billion worth of deals at the expo. The Hongqiao International Economic and Trade Forum was made up of the main forum, three parallel sessions, and the Hongqiao International Business Media and Think Tank Forum. Over 4,500 leading personnel from various circles around the world attended the Forum. The first CIIE gained widespread attention at home and abroad, attracting nearly 4,000 journalists from domestic and foreign media to report on the grand event.
The first CIIE was attended by a wide variety of countries and regions, said Zhong, explaining that a total of 156 countries, three regions and 13 international organizations were present at the event, including all the members of the G20, the BRICS, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), 58 countries along the route of the Belt and Road Initiative, and 35 of the least-developed countries. All the business exhibitors were overseas enterprises, and the number of overseas purchasers topped 6,200. With such a huge volume of countries, regions, and companies to show their achievements to the world and "shop the world" at the first CIIE, the expo was praised as a "universal expo" by the participants.
The Country Pavilion for Trade and Investment fully displayed the unique cultures and competitive industries of each country with rich exhibits of distinctive charms. The widely applauded Chinese pavilion at the CIIE, consisted of five areas featuring innovation, coordination, green, opening and sharing respectively and exhibition booths of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macao SAR and Taiwan, fully demonstrated China’s great achievements in reform and opening-up and the new opportunities China has brought to the world.
The enterprise and business exhibition of the CIIE reached a world class. About 220 Fortune Global 500 companies and leading enterprises in various industries participated in the event, bringing a variety of first-rate exhibits, among which over 5,000 products were released in China for the first time and more than 300 new products and new technologies were debuted at the event. With high-quality local specialties gathered at the expo from around the world, the enterprise and business exhibitions won great favor of consumers.