Interview: More U.S. companies hope to attend CIIE next year: AmCham Shanghai president

SHANGHAI, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The China International Import Expo (CIIE) is a great opportunity for U.S. companies looking to enter the Chinese market to showcase their technologies and products, and more U.S. firms hope to participate in the expo next year, said Eric Zheng, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

As the world's first import-themed national exhibition, the CIIE offers a platform for U.S. exhibitors to garner orders every year, Zheng told Xinhua during the 6th CIIE, which is underway at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai).

The grand expo kicked off on Nov. 5 and is scheduled to continue until Nov. 10. One focus of the event this year is the U.S. food and agriculture pavilion, jointly set up by the United States Department of Agriculture and the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

The pavilion opened to professional visitors on Monday, marking the first time that the U.S. government has participated in the expo and set up a pavilion.

A total of 17 exhibitors from the U.S. state governments, agricultural product associations, agricultural exporters, food manufacturers and packaging companies showcased products such as meat, nuts, cheese and wine at the pavilion covering an area of around 400 square meters.

"The transaction volume has exceeded my expectations, with two U.S. exhibitors signing 5 million U.S. dollars of orders on the day the pavilion opened," Zheng said.

As of Wednesday morning, three of the 17 exhibitors had received orders totaling more than 500 million U.S. dollars, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

The 6th CIIE has set a new record with 289 Global Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders in attendance. Over 3,400 exhibitors and 394,000 professional visitors registered for the event.

More than 200 U.S. exhibitors from semiconductors, medical devices, new energy vehicles, cosmetics and other sectors, including companies like Ford, Tesla and MSD, have attended the annual import expo this year, marking the largest U.S. presence in the history of the CIIE.

The 6th CIIE is the first one held completely offline since the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Many enterprises that did not have the chance to come to China before can participate offline this year, said Zheng, adding that China-U.S. relations have shown positive momentum recently.

"It's these conditions that allow our exhibitors to receive unexpected orders," he said. "China's economy is still an important engine for world economic growth. Next year, we plan to bring more U.S. companies and products to the expo."

In addition to the food and agriculture pavilion, Zheng also visited the expo's automobile, medical equipment and health care exhibition areas. "Large U.S. enterprises regard the CIIE as an important platform for launching new products and technologies," he said.

According to Zheng, in recent years, although the bilateral trade relations between China and the United States have experienced fluctuations, the Chinese market is still irreplaceable. "We hope the two countries can achieve win-win cooperation, and the CIIE will help achieve this goal."