By Lily Wang

The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to the world economy. Many large-scale international exhibitions have been canceled or postponed， which has affected the operations of multi-national enterprises. On November 4， 2020， the third CIIE（China International Import Expo） was held in Shanghai， as pandemic prevention and control had achieved great accomplishments. After three years of development， CIIE has established four platforms for international procurement， investment facilitation， cultural communication and open cooperation. It has become a public force for good and a world trade gala that can be shared and enjoyed by the whole world. It is a platform for enterprises from all countries to share opportunities and discuss future development.

Compared with the previous two CIIEs， this years expos exhibition space was increased by nearly 30，000 sq. m. and the scale of the exhibition was also expanded， showing Chinas willingness to share with the world market opportunities and promote the global economic recovery. The value of intended deals hit USD 72.26 billion， a 2.1% year-on-year increase. This is the greatest achievement of the third CIIE， and is a testimony to the fact that the Chinese market is shared by the world.

Foreign enterprises share Chinese opportunities

“Our exhibition space doubled from last year and we have seen a fivefold increase in the number of signed orders，” said Yin Zheng， Executive Vice President of Schneider Electric and President of Schneider Electric China.

It is the third time that Schneider Electric has participated in the exhibition. It is also used to feeling the opportunities in terms of the market， cooperation and communication that can be unleashed by the CIIE.

“At the first CIIE， we signed contracts with customers from many key sectors. During the second CIIE， our orders increased by 20%. In 2020， our business contracts have risen to a new level despite the difficult conditions brought about by the pandemic，”explained Yin Zheng， highly praising the cooperation efficiency of the CIIE.

U.S. company Rolls Royce Power Systems also received new orders during the third CIIE. It signed a framework agreement with Sumec， a company under the umbrella of Sinomach. At present， both parties are using the large diesel generator business as a cutting point， and have initiated wide cooperation in the areas of data centers， finance， livelihood projects， government and enterprise businesses.

“Each year the CIIE provides a great platform for companies to communicate and cooperate with customers and industrial partners. A lot of orders and intended purchase deals have been signed at the event. In 2020， seeing Chinas economic recovery， as the first of the major economies to begin to recover， was really encouraging， despite the impact of the pandemic，” said Tobias Ostermaier， President of Rolls-Royce Power SystemsChina branch. This cooperation will help Rolls-Royce better seize the market opportunities presented by Chinas new infrastructural strategies.

The CIIEs “circle of friends” is also expanding. Su Junxiong， President of the China Branch of U.S. Air Products and Chemicals， said that participating into CIIE has milestone significance for the company. Su told our reporter that Air Products and Chemicals has signed several memorandums of cooperation with Zhejiang Haiyan Economic and Technological Development Zone， Hohhot Municipal Government and the Jiutai Group.

Chinese enterprises step onto the world stage

The CIIE provides channels for foreign companies to enter the Chinese market， and also provides extensive cooperation opportunities for Chinese businesses. It attracted more than 2，600 exhibiting companies from all over the world this time， some of which are world top 500 and industry flagship enterprises. The exhibition covered six major areas， including food and agricultural products， automo-biles， technology equipment， consumer products， medical equipment and health care， and service trade.

The food and agricultural product exhibition area saw the largest number of exhibiting companies， including 1，264 companies from 93 countries. In the automobile exhibition area， the worlds top three auto groups were all present. More than 90% of the exhibition space was reserved for global top 500 and flagship companies. The technology equipment exhibition area focused on automation， intelligent manufacturing， industrial digitization， energy and total solutions， representing the new trends in industrial innovation. The consumer product exhibition area covered a floor space of more than 90 thousand sq. m.， earning it the title of the largest exhibition area at the third CIIE. The service trade exhibition area features the worlds top companies in the five sectors of finance， logistics， consulting， testing and inspection， and cultural tourism， in order to construct an intelligence-powered service industry chain. The medical equipment and health care exhibition area features more than 120 product and technology debuts， which was the largest number among all the exhibition areas. The worlds top 10 pharmaceutical companies and top 14 medical equipment manufacturers also all participated into the event.

Acquiring knowledge of the worlds newest industrial happenings without going abroad has brought convenience and opportunities for Chinese companies and has also promoted their business development. “Our business cooperation during the first two CIIEs has expanded our companys import business and laid a solid foundation for our business in 2020，” said Yang Yongqing， chairman of Sumec. Since early 2020， Chinas manufacturing industry has accelerated its upgrade and internal markets continued to expand. Despite the effect of the pandemic， the demand for high-end equipment and bulk commodities has been rising. This gives higher requirements for Sumecs import business development.

CIIE provides a large platform for Sumec to expand its import business. “Sumecs number of purchase orders and purchase value has increased across the last three CIIEs，” said Yang Yongqing， explaining that these cooperations will enhance Sumecs ability to optimize global industrial resources and integrate its import business with the internal market.

Besides companies， local governments were also well prepared to promote international cooperation. During CIIE， Shandong Province organized more than 40 local companies， including Shandong Heavy Industry Group， Wanhua Chemical Group and Haier Cosmoplat， to discuss business cooperation with leaders from 65 world top 500 companies including Bosch China， Caterpillar， General Electric， Siemens and Panasonic， so as to further expand business cooperation areas and innovate models for cooperation.

Empowering the global economy

The cooperation and dialog seen at the CIIE produces a larger spillover effect， as more and more enterprises are involved in this great event. Sun Chenghai， Deputy Director of the CIIE Bureau， said that so far， about 100 exhibitors have signed an agreement to attend the next three CIIEs， and several hundred companies have signed an agreement to attend the fourth CIIE： “We are confident and capable of creating a better epidemic control and prevention plan in order to hold the fourth CIIE on time.”

When asked why they are attending the CIIE， companies refer to the international platform that CIIE provides and the big opportunities pro- vided by Chinas huge internal market. A representative from the world top 500 company Dow Chemical said that China has the worlds largest consumer group and is undergoing a key transition period of consumption upgrading， urbanization and sustainable development. Chinas demands for high-value material solutions continue to rise. Dow Chemical is confident about the Chinese markets future.

“We are pleased to announce that we will invest 451 million euros in China over the next five years，” said a representative of Germanys pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim when publishing its development plan in China. It will enlarge its current production base and increase innovative businesses in China.

The U.S. company Honeywell also signed cooperation agreements with many leading companies during the third CIIE， in order to deepen its cooperation with Chinas local companies in many sectors. In the future， Honeywell will work with its Chinese partners to seize the new opportunities presented by the digital economy. “Against the backdrop of a gloomy world economy， CIIE helps global companies like Honeywell to enhance its connections with their Chinese business partners. We are optimistic about Chinas future development，” said Zhang Yufeng， President of Honeywell China.

Chinas market attraction derives from its strong economy. As the world economy faces the risk of a downturn， China has become the worlds first major economy to show signs of recovery， also playing a positive role in promoting the worlds economic recovery.

“China has a population of 1.4 billion people， and its medium-level income population has surpassed 400 million， making it the worlds most promising market. It is estimated that in the next decade， Chinas total import of commodities will surpass USD 22 trillion.” Chinas promise at the opening ceremony of the third CIIE conveyed a positive signal to the world about sharing market opportunities and promoting world economic recovery. It also boosted world enterprisesconfidence and determination to invest more in the Chinese market.