CIIE helps foreign merchants gain faster access to Chinese market

Photo taken on Nov. 3, 2020 shows a view of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), the main venue of the 3rd China International Import Expo (CIIE), in east China's Shanghai. (Photo by Wu Kai/Xinhua)

In order to expand the spillover effect of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) and develop the 6-day event into an year-round activity, Shanghai has established 56 permanent trading platforms for exhibiting global imports during the 6-day expo and the year after, which will also help foreign exhibitors gain faster access to the Chinese market.

After the past three expos, these trading platforms brought in about 180,000 products from 1,390 exhibitors and imported about 146.47 billion yuan worth of goods.

Greenland Global Commodity Trading Hub, a permanent trading platform of the CIIE, is located next to the expo's venue - the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). The trading hub has attracted 180 enterprises and organizations from 76 countries and regions, and created a total trading volume of over 50 billion yuan.

In the first half of this year, the trading hub established 15 country pavilions, including Ireland, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Cambodia, Peru and Cuba, which will open before the fourth CIIE, scheduled to be held from November 5 to 10. This will bring the total number of country pavilions in the trading hub to 70. It held supply-demand matchmaking meetings for over 50 foreign merchants with some 500 brands and buyers in Shanghai and provincial-level regions including Zhejiang, Shandong, Hubei, Inner Mongolia, and Sichuan, creating a total trading volume of over 8.5 billion yuan between January and June.

The trading hub's CIIE Bazaar at Shanghai's Nanjing Road, one of the city's famous shopping streets, is China's first retail bazaar featuring products showcased at the CIIE. In the venue, residents can purchase over 5,000 products from over 40 countries and regions. Foreign merchants need to replenish stocks several times during peak hours.

Aerial photo taken on July 28, 2020 shows the south square of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), the main venue of the 3rd China International Import Expo (CIIE), in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

Furthermore, the trading hub model has been replicated in other parts of China, and has already been built in 13 major cities, including Tianjin and Lanzhou.

The CIIE has also opened "fast-track lanes" for foreign enterprises to bring the latest scientific and technological achievements and products to China.

At the second CIIE, Pfizer, a US-based pharmaceutical company, signed a collaboration agreement with the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in south China's Hainan province. In 2020, lorlatinib, a new treatment for certain types of non-small cell lung cancer, was given to patients in Hainan.

The Waigaoqiao international intelligent manufacturing industrial park is the only permanent trading platform of the CIIE's smart and high-end manufacturing section, and has attracted many projects for the expo. The park launched a storage center project for imported intelligent equipment parts in the second quarter of this year, which will provide professional and efficient services for more intelligent manufacturers.

The Shanghai Waigaoqiao international medical devices exhibition and trading center is another permanent trading platform of the CIIE. After the third CIIE, more than 50 CIIE exhibits from leading international medical device companies, including Johnson & Johnson, were exhibited at the center.

Foreign merchants are accelerating their entry into the Chinese market, said Gui Danni, general manager of an importer of Chile's Campanario Coctel, adding that CIIE has become a platform for international procurement, investment promotion, cultural exchange and open cooperation.