Upcoming CIIE to further fuel global trade

With the annual China International Import Expo becoming an advanced platform for the country to enrich its industrial and supply chains, it is time for the organizers to expand the role of trade in technologies to further fuel the growth of the nation's dual-circulation development paradigm, said government officials and economists on Thursday.

The theme of "dual circulation" is a reference to China's new development pattern, in which the domestic market is the mainstay and the domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other.

In addition to creating a huge platform for multinational companies and improving services for foreign trade, CIIE has effectively promoted an upgrade of the nation's consumption and industries, said Sheng Qiuping, vice-minister of commerce.

More than 1,500 new products, technologies and services were featured during the past four CIIEs, while the value of the intended deals reached during these events totaled $270 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said.

"China's market, which boasts huge potential, resilience and vitality, provides ample space for all businesses to thrive," Sheng said. He characterized the country's dual-circulation pattern as facilitating the world to capitalize on China's vast market opportunities while allowing China to contribute its original innovations to benefit global consumers.

With a number of companies attending the CIIE for the first time this year, including global metals and mining giant Rio Tinto Group, Japanese multinational semiconductor company Renesas Electronics Corp and German logistics services provider Flyflow Germany GmbH, the fifth edition of the CIIE will be held in Shanghai in early November.

Zhou Hanmin, vice-chairman of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that apart from facilitating business activities in the areas of trade in goods and services, the CIIE's organizers should expand exhibition space for trade in technologies to meet domestic companies' needs for enhancing competitiveness.

"It will not only create more access for Chinese companies to purchase patents, trademarks and copyrights from global markets but also help them to find new growth points in artificial intelligence, industrial chips and biomedicine via cooperation with their foreign partners," he said.

Jiang Xiaojuan, head of the school of public policy and management at Tsinghua University and vice-chairperson of the Social Construction Committee of the National People's Congress, said that it is vital to ensure smooth import processes, especially for industrial and agricultural products.

It can help China save more natural resources such as farmland and water, and assist manufacturers, in particular in automobile, pharmaceutical and telecommunication equipment sectors, to accelerate their innovation pace to seize more market shares across the world, as well as push manufacturers in many sectors to shift their export products from labor-intensive goods to high-end items, Jiang said.

Hong Junjie, vice-president of the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics, said the CIIE has demonstrated China's unswerving goal of further opening-up and its dedication to promoting international trade.

As its scale expands annually with ever-improving quality, the trade fair is highly influential for companies to promote their brands and products, he noted.

Echoing this positive sentiment, Arthur Xu, president of the China unit at Danfoss Group, a Danish engineering company, said that the CIIE demonstrates China's strong commitment to promoting international communication and connectivity.

"Danfoss has made solid achievements during previous CIIEs, which gives us strong confidence in this year's event in November," he said, adding the group will bring its latest energy efficiency solutions and practices, especially in the area of electrification, to its Chinese partners in the Danish pavilion in Shanghai, with a purpose of speeding up the green transition of industries in China.

The European company entered into a strategic partnership with Shanghai Electric Wind Power Group Co Ltd last year. They will work together to build a zero-carbon industrial park in Haiyan, Zhejiang province. The project is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter.