Interview: China's import expo "world-class platform" for opportunities, partnership, Honeywell senior executive says

NEW YORK, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- The China International Import Expo (CIIE) is a "world-class platform" that brings opportunities and enhances partnership for companies around the globe, a senior executive from U.S. industrial conglomerate Honeywell has said.

"The difference between CIIE and other expo-type exhibitions is that this is not a tourism opportunity. This is a world class platform for global companies like Honeywell to find new cooperation opportunities," Shane Tedjarati, president of Honeywell Global High Growth Regions, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Since participating the very first time, we've been able to meet many new partners and discover new business opportunities. So I think the participation is of great significance for us," he said.

The CIIE is the first dedicated import exhibition in the world, and the 4th CIIE is slated to be held in Shanghai on Nov. 5-10 this year.

Honeywell was one of the first global companies to join the first CIIE in 2018, and this is the fourth consecutive year for the company to join the event.

Tedjarati said "partnership," "innovation," "new economy," and "China for the world," are among the key words as he recalled his company's experience with the CIIE.

Honeywell has seen fruitful outcomes in the previous three editions of the CIIE, and the company's booth area more than doubles that last year, fully demonstrating confidence and determination to further explore the "CIIE opportunities," he said.

More than 30 Honeywell products and solutions, including cutting-edge innovations in the areas of low-carbon technologies, advanced manufacturing, and digitalization, will be presented at this expo, a platform that facilitates connectivity, according to Tedjarati.

"For companies like us and other global companies with a long-term commitment to China, we can introduce our innovative technologies and solutions that cater to the Chinese market, but also find partners that would be willing to work with us to take these technologies and their technologies to global markets together. It's a great platform," he said.

Tedjarati said his company "really value the CIIE platform," noting "it's time for this platform to even get further prominence with China further opening up to the world."

Honeywell's business meets the market demand in China, and the company sees broad business prospects there especially when the country is striving for sustainability goals of peaking CO2 emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, said the senior executive, who has worked and lived in China for more than 20 years.

Honeywell has announced its commitment to carbon neutrality in all of its operations and facilities by 2035, which perfectly aligns with China's "dual carbon" goals, said Tedjarati.

"China is leader in the digital economy innovation already, we wanna continue to work in that area, the digital warehousing, e-commerce, supply-chain management, and advanced manufacturing...I think China can (also) be a role model in advancing technologies for a sustainable future," he said.

Honeywell has a long history of development in China. In 2013, China became the company's largest single country market outside the United States.

In its third-quarter results released lately, Honeywell said growth in China continues to be robust, as China's very favorable investment environment provides business opportunities for the company.