Ginseng grower Jiang Mingtao drives a tractor to inspect his ginseng farmland in Marathon County, Wisconsin, the United States, Aug. 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Yanan)

Many US enterprises have expressed continued interest in the China International Import Expo (CIIE), after an overseas promotion for the event was held in New York on Monday.

Thus far, a total of 41 companies from the US have signed up for the third CIIE to be held in November 2020, with many participants deciding to expand their exhibition areas, the Xinhua News Agency reported, citing Liu Fuxue, vice director of the CIIE Bureau.

During the second CIIE, which concluded in Shanghai on November 10, US exhibitors not only ranked top in terms of total exhibition area from a single country or region this year, but also bagged $12.96 billion of preliminary deals, accounting for 18.22 percent of the total, said Liu.

These numbers illustrate that, in spite of the current climate of bilateral trade relations, the ties between Chinese and US enterprises remain strong, said Gu Chunfang, economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese Consulate General in New York.

About 20 US companies had signed up for next year's event even before the second CIIE had ended, according to a news report published by China Central Television on November 7.

Liu said that US companies proactively joined the first and second CIIEs, reporting solid results.

"By talking with American business leaders and participants, I am aware that US companies still give priority to the Chinese market enthusiastically, despite the current China-US trade frictions," said Xu Chen, CEO of Bank of China USA.

As US business leaders regard the CIIE as a valuable platform, many top executives lead their delegations at the expo, showcasing their businesses and diving deeper into the Chinese market, said Xu, adding that the import market will play a more important role in China's economic development in the future.

"We will continue to lower tariffs and institutional transaction costs, and foster a number of demonstration zones to promote imports by creative means, so that we can import more high-quality goods and services from around the world, including the US," she said.

Rush for CIIE booths

As the world's first import-themed, national-level expo, the CIIE is a great platform for Chinese and US companies to progress further together, Gu noted.

US-based facilities, food and uniform services provider Aramark Corporation participated in the second CIIE. Jeff Zettel, the company's associate vice president, made a speech during the event, saying it was "a very positive experience."

"[The CIIE] is a fantastic opportunity for us and we're looking forward to doing it again in 2020," said Zettel, who signed an exhibition agreement with the CIIE Bureau on Monday. "We're looking to continue to make new relationships, to make new friends and to identify new opportunities to grow our business."

Zettel said that Aramark now has about 35,000 employees in China and its Chinese arm is a very important part of the group.

"It is a rapidly growing part of our company and we want to continue to do business in China across the different regions," he said.

Leo Chan, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Chinese Chamber of Commerce (GCCCC), also inked an exhibition agreement with the CIIE Bureau on Monday, reserving a special booth measuring 150 square meters.

One of the GCCCC's priorities is to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the midwestern US explore the Chinese market and participate in the CIIE.

As a chamber of commerce with strong Chinese ties, the GCCCC chooses to maintain exchanges with China despite the rocky state of China-US relations, said Chan, adding that the capacity to tap into the Chinese market is very important to the long-term development of SMEs.

Chan said that the GCCCC was unsuccessful in its attempts to reserve a booth at the first and second CIIEs, "so I came early this time and flew to New York all the way from Ohio to join the roadshow."