Malaysian exhibitors eye greater market access through CIIE

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming China International Import Expo (CIIE) is an ideal platform for a variety of participating businesses from around the world to tap into China's vast consumer market.

This year, the fifth CIIE, which is scheduled to be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to Nov. 10, will see the participation of prominent Malaysian exhibitors in the hopes of gaining even deeper market access to boost business.

Low Kian Chuan, president of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) said he believes this year's expo will provide more business opportunities as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has come into force.

ACCCIM has been the organizer of Malaysian exhibitors for the CIIE for five years. Low said that as China continues to open its doors wider to the world, the CIIE has become all the more attractive to export-oriented enterprises.

"China's opening-up policy is a solid and clear policy, which gives us confidence in China's status as the world's second-largest economy. We believe that, through cooperating with Chinese companies, we can achieve win-win results," Low said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Malaysia's edible birds' nests retailer Moh Kee Enterprise will participate in the CIIE for the fifth time. Calvin Ong Chang Yeow, Moh Kee's marketing manager, called it a "promise" to join the CIIE and to meet with all the friends they made during the past years on this platform.

The expo has boosted efforts to tap into the Chinese market, especially by bringing a huge number of people to one place with face-to-face meetings, allowing businesses to flourish, Ong told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Indeed, it has helped us a lot. Actually, throughout this CIIE we have met up with a lot of friends, not only in China but also worldwide," Ong said.

Recalling the first time he went to the CIIE in 2018, Ong said he had been particularly impressed by the huge scale of the event, which showcased China's advances not only in the organization but also in technological progress, with the incorporation of facial recognition technology and artificial intelligence (AI).

"We see a lot of people and products from all over the world, from the aero-engineering to all the seafood products," he said.

Zooming in on his own product, Ong said birds' nests are a highly-priced and highly sought-after product that fits right in with the huge range of other items on offer at the expo.

Malaysia's Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries has been promoting the development and export of the bird's nest sector, which is highly value-added and brings a lot of jobs as a labor-intensive industry.

The high amount of human labor involved in harvesting and preparing birds' nests also contributes to the high cost of the item, he said, adding that only nests that have already been used and abandoned by swiftlets would be collected for commercial use.

Speaking of the goal this year, "We hope to win some clients this year from provinces like Heilongjiang Province, Gansu Province and etc, to expand our business in northern China," he said.