Preparations are in full swing for the seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE), which is set to take place from Nov 5 to 10 in east China's Shanghai, as Saturday marks the event's 100-day countdown.
A pre-expo supply and demand matchmaking event on food, agricultural products, medical apparatus, and healthcare products for the 7th CIIE was held in the financial hub on Wednesday.
Over 80 exhibitors and nearly 200 purchasers engaged in discussions and product sampling across the food and medical sectors.
There are more than 50 exhibitors from the food exhibition area, covering vegetables, fruits and other agricultural products, meat products, beverages and alcohol, leisure food and products from other industries; There are more than 30 enterprises at the medical exhibition area, covering pharmaceutical, medical equipment and other industries.
"We are the fourth time here in the CIIE, and the previous years have been very successful for us. We had a lot of visitors which take a lot of interest in our products. Into our partner centers, we already have more than 1,700 partner centers in China. We hope that also events like the CIIE will help us find more partners," said Bernd Wagner, CEO of Rexton China, an exhibitor.
The 7th CIIE has already signed up exhibition space exceeding 360,000 square meters, and held nine promotion and matchmaking events nationwide, inking key procurement partnership deals with nearly 20 industry leaders.
"Through the platform of the CIIE, we can have direct dialogue with brands. We can have valuable gains in both directions, whether it comes to better understanding their needs in entering the market, or to seeing some opportunities for us in going global in the future. It is a good learning opportunity for us to see new technologies and new innovation in the world firsthand," said Zhang Ning, a purchaser, also co-founder of Hot Maxx.
To date, over 50 countries and international organizations have confirmed their participation in this year's Comprehensive Country Exhibition as part of the CIIE, including first-time exhibitors such as Norway, Benin, Burundi, and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.
As a key part of the CIIE, the seventh Hongqiao Forum will have several sub-forums, including the release of the "2024 World Open Report".
Themed "High-Standard Opening up for Universally Beneficial and Inclusive Economic Globalization", this year's forum will feature discussions on topics such as industrial development and sustainable urban construction, sustainable trade under climate change, artificial intelligence, new energy storage, and new energy vehicles.
On Thursday morning, the exhibitors' signing ceremony for the next CIIE - the 8th scheduled for 2025 - kicked off with more than 30 enterprises already signing up. The booked exhibition area has exceeded 20,000 square meters.
Many veteran exhibitors said at the ceremony venue that the CIIE provides an important platform for debut of their latest products.
"Our company will participate in the CIIE for the fifth time this year. We are an innovative and entrepreneurial company, focusing on lightweight and sustainable materials. We attach great importance to the CIIE, where we can showcase our company's latest technologies and products -- even some global debuts," said Luo Tao, General Manager of HRC Automotive Company.
CIIE begins 100-day countdown with steady preparation, high popularity
