Eighty enterprises and organizations have so far signed up for the eighth China International Import Expo (CIIE).
The total exhibition area of the 80 exhibitors will span nearly 50,000 square meters at next year's expo.
The exhibitors are from countries such as the United States, Germany, France, Japan and Singapore, covering a wide array of sectors like advanced technology and equipment, cutting-edge components and parts, and natural gas.
A group signing ceremony was held on Wednesday at the 7th CIIE Enterprise Alliance Conference, which is part of this year's expo in Shanghai.
"It's probably one of the most amazing conferences I've ever seen, just in terms of bringing all these industries together into one conference," said Rick Kozloski, president of Alcon China, in an interview with the China Central Television (CCTV), on the sidelines of the conference.
Alcon is a Swiss-American pharmaceutical and medical device company which was among the 80 exhibitors signed up for next year's expo.
"We cannot miss this big event. Every year since the CIIE began, every year we have been participating. This year is our seventh time participating. Most of our companies are very satisfied with the results," Shin Sun-young, chief representative of the Korea International Trade Association, told CCTV.
While addressing Tuesday's conference, Chinese Assistant Minister of Commerce Tang Wenhong said the growing number of global businesses participating in the CIIE shows their confidence in China's growth outlook.
"The number of signed companies is the largest of all the CIIE Enterprise Alliance Conferences. It shows that enterprises from all over the world are becoming more and more enthusiastic about participating in the expo, and their ever-growing confidence in China's development," said the official.
Since its first edition in 2018, the CIIE has become an important stage spotlighting the country's new development paradigm, a platform for high-level opening-up, and a public good for the whole world.
Running from Tuesday to Sunday under the theme of "New Era, Shared Future," the seventh CIIE has attracted participants from 152 countries, regions, and international organizations to participate in the country exhibition and business exhibition.
80 firms, organizations sign up for 8th CIIE
80 firms, organizations sign up for 8th CIIE
80 firms, organizations sign up for 8th CIIE
The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since the beginning of the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in last October had reached 3,050, with injuries rising to 13,658, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
At least 57 people were killed and more than 50 injured on Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon, according to the National News Agency (NNA) and local media reports.
Al-Jadeed TV reported that over 55 people died and more than 50 were wounded in a series of 33 Israeli airstrikes targeting towns and villages in the Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel regions in eastern Lebanon.
Governor of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate Bachir Khodr said on Wednesday the region had been subjected to 40 Israeli attacks on the day, resulting in 38 deaths and 54 injuries. Cleanup efforts of debris at multiple locations are still ongoing.
The strikes targete residential neighborhoods in Baalbek and the historic "Al-Manshiya" building, which was completely destroyed, according to Baalbek Mayor Mustafa al-Shal.
Baalbek was a significant religious center in the Roman Empire and is renowned for its temples dedicated to Jupiter and Bacchus, both listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites, along with several distinctive megaliths. The United Nations has expressed concern about the damage that Israeli airstrikes have inflicted on its valuable historic architecture.
In southern Lebanon, a separate airstrike killed one person in Ibl al-Saqi, while another civilian died in Bazourieh when a residential apartment was hit, the NNA said. Israeli forces also struck villages in Harouf, Beit Yahoun, Ansariyeh, Aadloun, Zrarieh, and Kunin in southern Lebanon.
In response, Hezbollah claimed to have launched attacks on Israel's Stella Maris naval base near Haifa, using precision missiles and assault drones. It also reported the attacks targeted Kiryat Shmona and Israeli forces at the Al-Marj site in Wadi Hunayn, close to Lebanon's Markaba and Maroun al-Ras villages.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a report on the same day, revealing that as of Nov. 4, nearly 873,000 people had been left homeless in Lebanon due to Israeli attacks, and over half of them are women. Moreover, there have been 78 attacks on medical facilities within Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 130 health care workers and injuries to 111 others.
Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has been launching a barrage of air attacks on Lebanon in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah. In early October, Israel initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon.
The ongoing clashes between Israel and Hezbollah began on Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, prompting retaliatory fire and airstrikes by Israel in southeastern Lebanon.
Death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon rises to 3,050
