Photo shows Jinbao, mascot of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), at the south square of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), the main venue for the second CIIE, in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 4, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

 Foreign multinationals like US-based Honeywell are actively signing up for the 3rd China International Import Expo (CIIE), with more than 60 percent of the planned exhibition area already booked - a show of confidence in China's economic and consumption potential despite the global pandemic.

Honeywell told the Global Times on Monday that it will attend the CIIE for the third time this year, and the scale of its exhibition will be larger than at the previous expo. "The CIIE serves as a sound board for multinational companies like us to strengthen our Chinese business," Honeywell said in a Chinese-language statement.

The company said it would showcase its advanced internet technologies as well as protective products and its manufacturing technologies at the 2020 expo, which is scheduled to be held in Shanghai in November.

Official data showed that more than 1,000 companies have signed up for the expo, including a dozen Global Fortune 500 enterprises and industry leaders. According to information released so far, most foreign companies come from the US, Japan, Germany and Italy, among other countries.

They are from sectors including vehicles, machinery, consumption and healthcare equipment. At the expo, a special area will be set aside for public health and disease prevention.

Bai Ming, deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's International Market Research Institute, said that foreign companies should seize the opportunity provided by the CIIE to cement their international standing when global industrial chains are in flux amid the pandemic.

"As industrial chains in the US, European and many emerging markets have been battered by the outbreak, the expo would play a larger role as an internationally important platform for foreign firms to get access to China's huge market and fast-recovering manufacturing sector," he said.

As the global pandemic proves the importance of the online economy, Honeywell said it hopes to actively integrate into China's burgeoning digital economy by applying its industrial connectivity technologies.

Leon Wang, AstraZeneca's executive vice president, told the Global Times that the company will continue to invest in China by upgrading its Shanghai research and development center into a global one this year. It will also establish regional headquarters in cities including Beijing, Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province and Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province.

"China's economy has shown strong resilience for decades. This gives us full confidence that the impact of the epidemic on the economy is temporary and will not alter the fundamentals of the nation's long-term economic growth," he said.

The company's exhibition area this year will cover 1,000 square meters.