China News Service, October 16. On the morning of the 16th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on the preparations for the 9th China International Import Expo. When introducing the preparations for the CIIE, Vice Minister of Commerce Yan Dong said that the ninth CIIE will be held in Shanghai from November 5 to 10, and the Hongqiao Forum will be held at the same time. At present, all preparations are basically in place. 162 countries, regions and international organizations will participate, 4,142 overseas companies will participate in the exhibition, and the overall area will exceed 440,000 square meters for the first time.
Yan Dong said that this CIIE will focus on improving marketization, characteristics, and professionalism, and has the following three main characteristics:
First, the open background is more distinct. The National Exhibition invites willing countries and international organizations to showcase their comprehensive image, trade and investment and other fields. This year, it attracted 69 countries and international organizations to participate in the exhibition, with the number of entities exceeding last year. Canada and Sri Lanka were the guest countries, and five countries including Moldova, Romania and the United Nations Development Program participated in the exhibition for the first time. In the enterprise exhibition, companies from the United States, Germany, Britain, France and other countries lead the exhibition area. Among them, the exhibition area of American companies exceeds 50,000 square meters, ranking first for eight consecutive years, an increase of 1,500 square meters compared with last year. The exhibition area of Canadian and New Zealand companies is the largest in history, and the exhibition area of Australian companies has expanded by 25% compared with last year. With the theme of "Stable Cooperation and Jointly Building an Open World Economy", the Hongqiao Forum will hold a main forum and 23 sub-forums; it will continue to publish the "World Openness Report" and the Openness Index, and newly release the "Export China Capability Development Report" to create a "double flagship" report.
Second, the momentum for innovation is stronger. On the one hand, many data reached new highs. In terms of scale, the corporate exhibition area exceeded 370,000 square meters for the first time. From the perspective of exhibitors, the number of Fortune 500 companies and industry leading companies exceeded 300 for the first time, nearly 200 companies and institutions were "full attendance" at the ninth CIIE, and more than 2,000 "new face" companies participated in the exhibition for the first time. Judging from the exhibits, as of now, there are more than 480 representative exhibits premiering in the world, Asia for the first time, and China for the first time, setting a new high in history. On the other hand, a number of initiatives were implemented for the first time. For the first time, exclusive "privilege packages" for the guest of honor and the annual theme country of "Export to China" were launched, tailor-made support measures and services, and innovative planning of "inside + outside the museum" exhibition and city linkage; for the first time, a global national brand display area was created; and the "three events of the CIIE" were comprehensively upgraded, among which the "Boutique Area" introduced the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop" for the first time, the "Gourmet Area" set up a global food appreciation area for the first time, and the "Literary Area" was linked with the "China International Fashion Week" for the first time.
Third, shared attributes are more evident. International organizations actively participated, with 6 international organizations including the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization participating in the exhibition. Various departments and localities will coordinate and link up, and more than 40 trading groups and more than 600 trading sub-groups will attend the meeting to observe procurement. Chinese and foreign civilizations blended and learned from each other, and the scale of the cultural exchange display reached a new high. 31 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and 7 institutions made wonderful appearances. Canada, Spain, Kyrgyzstan and other countries also actively participated in the display.
