CIIE turns more exhibitors into investors

At a "From Exhibitors to Investors" subsection of the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE), German cleaning manufacturer Karcher showcased how and why it has been attracted to the Chinese market.

In 2019, the German company set up its Chinese headquarters in Changshu, east China's Jiangsu Province, with an investment of 380 million yuan ($52.47 million). A year later, it inked a strategic investment and cooperation agreement with its Chinese partners and jointly built an R&D and production base.

This year, it invested another 100 million yuan in building a global research center that covers 13,000 square meters in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, for better development in the Chinese market.

Photo taken on Nov. 5, 2022 shows the Intelligent Industry and Information Technology exhibition area of the fifth China International Import Expo. (People's Daily/Zhang Wujun)

The CIIE led Karcher to the Chinese market, said Tang Xiaodong, president of Karcher Greater China. The huge dividends and spillover effect of the event are a major reason for the German company to have joined all the five sessions of the exhibition and expanded its exhibition area year by year, he added.

The company will establish an experienced team of battery development and work closely with its headquarters to provide more professional and competitive battery solutions for global consumers, according to Tang.

The "From Exhibitors to Investors" subsection, which is set up for the first time this year at the CIIE, covers a total area of over 6,000 square meters and is joined by more than 30 exhibitors, including many globally renowned enterprises.

Gu Wenqian, a CIIE staff member at the new subsection, told People's Daily that the newly established exhibition area comprehensively showcases the CIIE's spillover effect of how exhibits have turned into hot commodities and how exhibitors have turned into investors and business partners. The subsection reviews the common progress of exhibitors and the CIIE over the past five years, she noted.

More and more CIIE exhibitors are turning into investors and taking root in the investment hotspot of China.

A model of the Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines program is exhibited at the booth of General Motors at the fifth China International Import Expo, Nov. 5, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Weng Qiyu)

Apart from setting up a thematic exhibition booth, Japanese beauty company Shiseido is also showcasing its investment and innovation results it has achieved in China over the past 40 years at the "From Exhibitors to Investors" subsection.

"The CIIE is unquestionably the best platform where we showcase our core strategies and important innovation achievements. It has created a huge space for communication and a huge spillover effect for enterprises," said Shiseido China CEO Kentaro Fujiwara.

He noted that the Chinese market will play a more and more important role in leading the beauty company's innovation and growth in its mid- and long-term development, expressing his hope that the company can keep showcasing its frontier technologies, new products and new brands at the CIIE.

A visitor takes photos of a humanoid robot developed by Tesla at the automobile exhibition section of the fifth China International Import Expo, Nov. 5, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Weng Qiyu)

Danish multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, from joining the first CIIE, has so far completed a number of investments and optimized its industrial chains in China. Between 2019 and 2021, it invested over 500 million yuan in its factory in north China's Tianjin municipality, introducing three production lines for pre-filled pen injectors. Last year, it invested another $150 million in China to expand its production capacity and build a digital factory.

"As an old friend of the CIIE, Novo Nordisk benefits from the spillover effect of the CIIE. Our innovative medicines have turned from exhibits to commodities, and the company also turned from an exhibitor to an investor," said Zhou Xiaping, senior vice president of Novo Nordisk.

According to her, the company is displaying 18 innovative drugs and 10 injector devices at the fifth CIIE. It hopes to expand its "circle of friends" and better serve Chinese patients of diabetes and other chronic diseases through the important platform.

"Our determination to develop in the Chinese market and invest in China will never change," she said.