Most exhibits for the upcoming 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE) have arrived in Shanghai and completed customs clearance, with the arrival of fresh food products peaking in the last several days before the deadline.
On Saturday night, customs officers at the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport welcomed two special travelers carrying two boxes of frozen seafood from Kiribati, an island country in the central Pacific Ocean.
They flew two days to attend the 7th CIIE, which is scheduled for November 5 to 10 in Shanghai.
"We have the red snapper, the spangled emperor. We also have the lobster. It's a good opportunity, especially to small island countries who want to explore the market," said Takaya Takayi, marketing manager of the Central Pacific Fishing Company.
"I bring the solar salt from Christmas Island, one of the islands in Kiribati," said Taburi Katuti, an employee of the Kiribati Solar Salt Development Center.
Customs authorities in Shanghai have taken a variety of measures to ensure the smooth clearance of CIIE exhibits, according to Yu Zhenhua, a customs officer at the airport.
"We have acquired entering plans for exhibits in advance, made corresponding customs clearance guidelines, and streamlined inspection procedures for exhibits to do our best to ensure that exhibits of guests from distant lands can make it to the expo in the freshest condition," Yu said.
The preliminary inspection and the annotation of the customs declarations took less than 10 minutes, and the two foreign exhibitors were allowed to leave with their goods, which would undergo thorough inspections the next day.
As many exhibitors of fresh food such as aquatic products and fruits that are easy to spoil choose to arrive on the last several days before the expo, the 26 major ports in Shanghai have set up 119 special windows and channels for CIIE exhibits and deployed officers at the venue to inspect eligible exhibits. "For special exhibits with super large sizes, high value, high transportation and storage requirements, and exhibits that are difficult to inspect at ports, we have developed a model of inspecting simultaneously at ports and the expo venue so as to further improve customs clearance efficiency," said Ding Ning, a customs officer at the National Exhibition and Convention Center.
Themed "New Era, Shared Future", the 7th CIIE will be attended by 77 countries and international organizations in national pavilions, along with nearly 3,500 exhibitors from 129 countries and regions in the business exhibition.
As the world's first national-level import-themed expo, the CIIE is held annually at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai.
Since its first edition in 2018, this expo has become an important stage spotlighting China's new development paradigm, a platform for high-level opening-up and a public good for the whole world.
Most exhibits of upcoming 7th CIIE complete customs clearance
