More companies from the Global South are boarding CIIE booths—bringing goodies from the Global South to China (CIIE Connection)

The CIIE is an important platform for countries in the global South to connect with the Chinese market and participate in international trade. Durian from Malaysia, dried mango and roselle pollen from Cote d'Ivoire, handmade leather bags from Argentina... The ninth CIIE held in Shanghai attracted companies from developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and other regions, carrying unique products to the East. The Asian and African products area of ​​this CIIE has been further upgraded, the exhibition area of ​​African companies has steadily increased, and more companies from the global South have entered the international exhibition stage.

“The CIIE is a very good platform and we are continuing to explore new opportunities in the Chinese market.”

The Asian and African product area was fully upgraded, and the free booth area provided to the least developed countries increased by 17%.

【Onsite connection】

At the Turkmenistan booth, carpets with exquisite patterns were spread out in layers, and volunteers in national costumes gently plucked the strings of the dutar; at the Vietnam booth, intelligent robots operated in an orderly manner, delivering cups of freshly ground coffee; at the Sri Lankan booth, flavored chocolates, specialty handicrafts, and cleaning products were laid out, attracting visitors to stop and inquire... At this CIIE, more special products from southern countries around the world were unveiled. The Asian and African products area has been fully upgraded, and the free booth area provided to the least developed countries has increased by 17%.

Nishantha Jayaweera, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Sri Lanka, told reporters that Sri Lanka has been working together with the CIIE for nine years, and this year it is participating as the guest country for the first time: "In addition to the prestigious Sri Lankan black tea and sapphire, we also exhibit specialty handicrafts, coconut products, herbal medicines, etc. This time we continue to expand export channels and enrich export categories. The CIIE is a very good platform, and we are continuing to explore new opportunities in the Chinese market."

At the twin-city joint exhibition booths in Chongqing and Jalalabad, Kyrgyzstan, on one side are advanced equipment such as new energy vehicles and motorcycles, and on the other side are products full of Central Asian characteristics such as wool products and dairy products. On one side of the booth, international students from Central Asia made special honey coffee for visitors. Hu Qingpeng, executive director of the Kyrgyzstan-China (Chongqing) Economic and Trade Cooperation Center, said that the products exhibited this time have both practicality and regional characteristics: "Jalalabad and Chongqing have established an economic and trade cooperation platform to help both parties' high-quality specialty products accurately connect to the market. The friendship established between the cities is bringing more good products from Kyrgyzstan to China."

【Expert comments】

Yang Yue, Director and Professor of the Institute of Asia Studies at the China Foreign Affairs University: The positive impact of the CIIE on products from countries in the Global South is reflected in three levels.

First, it provides a low-threshold market access platform. The CIIE adheres to the concept of openness and sharing, providing free booths and customized services such as customs clearance and logistics to the least developed countries, giving small and medium-sized enterprises and specialty products the opportunity to directly face China's ultra-large market, which is rare in international trade platforms.

Second, it provides a capacity building platform. The CIIE is not just a "booth". It also helps companies from southern countries understand China's market rules, improve their export capabilities to China, and turn one-time exhibition participation into long-term trade capabilities through mechanisms such as export capability reports, cross-border e-commerce training, and buyer docking.

The third is to provide a value chain embedding platform. Looking at Southeast Asia, which I have been paying attention to for a long time, the scale of exhibitors has continued to expand in recent years. Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand have successively served as the guest countries. The exhibits have also upgraded from primary agricultural products such as durian, rice, and coffee to deeply processed food, medical health, and digital products. This shows that the CIIE is connecting with regional rules such as RCEP, helping Southeast Asian products connect with China's processing, logistics and e-commerce systems, and is moving from "selling products" to "embedding in regional value chains."

“China’s favorable policies such as zero tariffs for African countries that have diplomatic relations with it make me full of expectations for the business prospects.”

The CIIE upholds the concepts of equality, fairness, inclusiveness and openness, and provides global southern countries with opportunities to enter the Chinese market and participate in international trade.

【Onsite connection】

In front of Rwanda's booth, a girl in aqua blue dress danced the traditional intoli dance, with ankle bells ringing to the rhythm. Exhibitor Ivan carefully organized the booth and placed fresh avocados in eye-catching locations.

Since May 1 this year, China has fully implemented zero tariffs on 100% of tax items with 53 African countries that have diplomatic relations with Africa, and more and more good African products are entering China.

"My avocado farm has obtained the Chinese market access qualification, and the fruits produced by more than 4,000 avocado trees can be sold to cities such as Shanghai. This is a very happy thing." Ivan said, "China's favorable policies such as zero tariffs for African countries that have diplomatic relations make me full of expectations for the business prospects. I hope to continue to work hard in the Chinese market, starting from a container, and ensuring the quality of each batch of goods. I believe that as long as we lay a solid foundation, there is still a lot of room for sales growth."

Analia, promotion specialist of the Uruguay Investment and Export Promotion Agency, is also optimistic about the prospects for cooperation. She believes that the CIIE will continue to provide stable and large-scale market entrances for global southern economies. "Coming to the exhibition is to continue to expand business and deepen the cooperative relationship between the two parties." Analia said that products such as red wine, beef, and amethyst from Uruguay are very popular in China. "Uruguay and China have a good foundation for cooperation and long-term friendship. Because of this, we attend the appointment every year."

At this CIIE, the organizers not only added free booths and provided "zero-tariff" services for some less developed countries, but also provided logistics subsidies, opened green channels for products from the least developed countries, and even provided cross-border e-commerce operation training.

In order to expand unilateral opening up to the least developed countries and achieve common development, starting from December 1, 2024, China will apply a preferential tax rate of zero to 100% of tax items originating from the least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China. Since joining the WTO, China has implemented the "China Project on Least Developed Countries and WTO Accession" under the WTO framework, and has successfully promoted the accession of eight least developed countries, including Timor-Leste and Comoros, to the WTO.

【Expert comments】

Pan Helin, a member of the Information and Communication Economy Expert Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: The CIIE upholds the concepts of equality, fairness, inclusiveness and openness, and is committed to expanding opportunities for countries in the global south to enter the Chinese market and participate in international trade.

From the perspective of equality, the CIIE provides a platform for fair display, docking, and trade for companies from countries at different stages of development. From a fair point of view, China has used a variety of support measures to help companies from less developed countries reduce the costs of participating in exhibitions and entering the Chinese market, promoting more "small but beautiful" products from exhibition booths to the market, from samples to commodities, and sharing the opportunities brought by the CIIE. From the perspective of inclusive opening up, China insists on allowing southern countries to share development dividends more stably through its own market opening, import facilitation and cooperation platform building, promoting China to have closer economic and trade ties with them and making cooperation expectations more stable.

More and more southern countries have participated in the CIIE for many consecutive years, which is a vivid reflection of the widespread recognition of these concepts.

“Coming to the CIIE makes me confident in the Chinese market.”

Using important exhibitions as a platform to provide southern countries with a more stable and convenient entrance to the Chinese market

【Onsite connection】

This year’s CIIE National Exhibition welcomed five countries and one international organization to the stage for the first time, namely Moldova, Romania, Somalia, Seychelles, Gabon and the United Nations Development Programme. The “CIIE Circle of Friends” in the global South continues to expand.

“This is my first time contacting Chinese customers, and there are more and more contacts in my WeChat address book,” said Maria, an exhibitor from Ecuador. During this trip to China, she brought Ecuadorian roses and Panama straw hats to China. In her view, the CIIE not only provides an opportunity to promote products, but also helps her understand the Chinese market. “Coming to the CIIE makes me confident in the Chinese market.”

Chinese innovative products incorporating artificial intelligence technology have also attracted many visitors from the Global South. At the booth of Dewu Company in the China Pavilion, a robot that performs product identification lifts its mechanical arm and accurately opens the shoe tongue. Then a high-definition camera takes a 360-degree shot of the product. The sensor on the fingertips simultaneously collects tactile information on the surface of the product, and calls a dedicated intelligent agent to compare it with the authentic sample library. It only takes 2 seconds to output the identification results and judgment basis. Díaz, a clothing exhibitor from Argentina, said that ensuring product quality through AI means has great potential in promoting cross-border consumption and hopes to introduce this product in the future.

【Expert comments】

Yang Yue: In the next step, multiple measures should be taken to build exhibition platforms such as the China International Import Expo into a "mechanism that functions all year round." The first is misplaced coordination and each showing its strengths. The Canton Fair focuses on "selling the world", the CIIE focuses on "buying the world", the Service Trade Fair and the Digital Trade Fair focus on new tracks of services and digital trade, and the China-ASEAN Expo is deeply involved in surrounding areas. Several major platforms should strengthen connection in country-specific docking and buyer selection. The second is to use exhibitions to empower South-South cooperation. Relying on the "6 days + 365 days" year-round exhibition and sales mechanism, the exhibition traffic is transformed into a year-round stable trade channel, promoting "exhibits into commodities, exhibitors into investors"; and new rules such as China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 and RCEP's origin accumulation, digital green, etc. are created as policy propaganda and matchmaking services at the exhibition site to help enterprises in southern countries make full use of institutional dividends.

Pan Helin: We should further use important exhibitions as a platform to provide countries in the global South with a more stable and convenient entrance to the Chinese market. First, continue to maintain the continuity, stability and predictability of policies, further enhance the confidence of southern countries in trade and investment with China, and promote the formation of long-term, stable and sustainable industrial and trade ties with China. The second is to continuously expand the breadth and depth of economic and trade cooperation, and promote the extension of cooperation areas from agricultural products to manufacturing, service industries, digital economy, green and low carbon, infrastructure interconnection and other directions. Actively support southern countries to combine their own resource endowments, industrial foundations and development stages to cultivate new industries and new models suitable for themselves, expand cooperation space, and improve the quality of cooperation. The third is to continue to deepen high-quality economic and trade cooperation with southern countries, promote practical cooperation in infrastructure construction, new energy vehicles, green energy, digital technology and other fields, and contribute to building an open world economy.