The upcoming China International Import Expo (CIIE) will create vast exchange opportunities between U.S. and Chinese enterprises and further benefit trade cooperation between the two countries, said Michael Hart, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China).
Themed "New Era, Shared Future", the 7th CIIE is scheduled for November 5 to 10 in Shanghai. A total of 152 countries, regions and international organizations will participate in the event, including 77 countries and international organizations for national exhibitions, and nearly 3,500 exhibitors from 129 countries and regions for business exhibitions.
In an exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing, Hart, who will be attending the CIIE for the second time, said he has received nearly 100 invitations from different American companies welcoming him to visit their booths at the CIIE, noting that many high-level representatives of American companies will also come to Shanghai to attend the event.
"One of the reasons that people go to the CIIE is see what's happening in China, and of course, many companies launch new products or business lines, and last year I participated in a couple of product launches. So, companies that have products that they haven't to brought to China, or products they built specifically for China, and they will launch those at this event. I said it's busy, of course there is thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people there, you can see the collaboration, you can see people working together. For me specifically, I can see what U.S. companies are doing in China," he said.
Following the first official pavilion set up by the U.S. government in the last CIIE, the country has also prepared exhibition booths to promote its agricultural, environmental and commercial sectors.
For six consecutive years, the total exhibition area of U.S. companies at the CIIE has ranked first, and an increasing number of U.S. companies have been learning more about the Chinese market and deepening their presence in the Chinese market through participating in the expo, according to Hart.
"Healthcare is a place where there is plenty of areas to cooperate, but we continue to see innovation in all types of fields. So, I am a big believer that the U.S. and China benefit from trading with each other. We've been doing so about 40 years. I believe we will be doing so for another 40 years, and so I do think there's plenty of areas for cooperation between our two countries, but you see that most in the cooperation between companies and consumers, so I am a big believer that will continue," he said.
The chamber president said that American companies have shown greater initiative in participating in the CIIE and have demonstrated their growing confidence in the future prospects of the Chinese market.
"I continue to be optimistic that China is a market that will continue to grow. I think that the CIIE is a place where the Chinese government can show foreign companies that are active in what they are doing. I think it's also a great opportunity to talk to companies about where they'd like to see even more opportunities to access to the Chinese market. The U.S. has a lot of really great companies who have a global footprint. It's no surprise that with a market as big as China that many of them are here and invest in this market, and we hope that there is a win-win in there for all of us," Hart said.
AmCham China president expects vast cooperation opportunities at upcoming CIIE
