China News Service, Shanghai, October 31 (Gao Zhimiao) On the 31st, in the Hongqiao Imported Commodity Exhibition and Trading Center (hereinafter referred to as Hongqiao Pinhui) located in Xinhong Street, Minhang District, Shanghai, the story of an Ethiopian coffee merchant was mentioned repeatedly. At the first China International Import Expo (hereinafter referred to as the CIIE), this coffee merchant only had a 9-square-meter booth. Today, he has achieved a business scale of tens of millions of yuan. The fate of a booth or a coffee bean has become a footnote to the spillover effects of the CIIE.
Why do stories like this continue to grow in Hongqiao? The "Let the World Hear Hongqiao" theme event to welcome the CIIE in 2026 was held on the same day. This event brought together nearly 300 representatives of multinational enterprises, business associations, innovation platforms and professional service organizations. The main stage was handed over to 8 speakers. Through theater-style short lectures and personal experience, they brought the experience of "entering Hongqiao, taking root in Hongqiao, and going to the world."
On October 31, the "Let the World Hear Hongqiao" 2026 CIIE themed event was held. The picture shows the event scene. Photo courtesy of Xinhong Street, Minhang District
"When we re-selected the location for our China headquarters in 2018, we actually had many options." Bao Wenyan, head of the Chinese brand market of German industrial company Jungheinrich, said frankly, "We first 'brought the products in', but later found that products alone were not enough. You have to integrate yourself into this industry." It was also in this year that the company participated in the first CIIE with a try-it-all attitude, and this choice continues to this day.
Chen Feng, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hong Kong, cited the "story of a bottle of water" to explain the complementarity of the two "connecting hubs" between Hong Kong and Shanghai. He introduced that the Federation of Industry and Commerce once helped a mainland water company enter the Hong Kong market. "Hong Kong is at the right time to connect with international rules and professional resources, and Shanghai Hongqiao is at the right location to connect to the industrial hinterland of the Yangtze River Delta." He believes that a bottle of water has been tested and certified by Hong Kong to open up the source, and Shanghai Hongqiao has widened the radius of the bottle of water, allowing it to "flow" into supermarkets in the Yangtze River Delta. The more people drink it, the "more harmonious people are."
Companies are willing to come and stay, and the test questions are not just on the booth. What makes an encounter take root into an opportunity is an invisible net behind it. What Zhu Jing, deputy general manager of Hongqiao Pinhui, and his team did was extend 6 days to 365 days. Ethiopian coffee beans entered the live broadcast room from the exhibition stand, Samyang Turkey Noodles changed from an internet celebrity to a long-shelf product, and the low-altitude economic exhibition and trade ecosystem is also budding. "The exhibition brings people once, and we have to find a way to make them willing to come the next year, so strengthening our own 'service network' is the first priority." Zhu Jing said.
As the main "6-day + 365-day" year-round display and trading platform in Shanghai to undertake and amplify the spillover effects of the CIIE, Hongqiao Pinhui brings together more than 90,000 products from nearly 120 countries and regions, with 57 sub-centers across the country, with a platform trade volume of nearly 40 billion yuan.
The service network catches exhibitors, and the consumer side catches the spillover effect. The "Eight Objects One Future" Mini CIIE experience exhibition was also set up at the event site. Along the 2018 to 2025 timeline, eight classic exhibits, orders or symbols from previous CIIEs, including "flying cars, gemstones, coffee beans, sports shoes, and turkey noodles," will be "returned for a limited time."
The "CIIE Consumption Map" released simultaneously at the event uses the "ticket economy" as a link to link key commercial entities in the Hongqiao International Central Business District and more than 100 merchants to launch exclusive consumer rights. The relevant person in charge of the Hongqiao International Central Business District Management Committee introduced that under the background of the in-depth integration of the "Cultural, Commercial, Tourism and Sports Exhibition", the spillover effect of the CIIE will be further amplified, regional consumption growth momentum will be activated, citizens will look for good CIIE products based on their daily lives, and "exhibits will become commodities".
