Chairwoman of the Icelandic-Chinese Trade Council Jonina Bjartmarz (L) signs a memorandum of cooperation with the China International Import Expo Bureau during the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) promotion conference in Reykjavik, Iceland, June 16, 2023.  (Xinhua/Chen Jing)

The sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE) is scheduled to be held offline in Shanghai from November 5 to 10, with the number of Fortune 500 and industrial leading companies to participate in this year's event exceeding that recorded last year, the CIIE Bureau said on Wednesday.

This year's trade fair has already signed with businesses to help prepare their booths, covering more than 360,000 square meters across the exhibition area, said Sun Chenghai, deputy director of the bureau, domestic news outlet cnstock.com reported.

Sun said the scale of the expo this year is basically stable, with six exhibition zones including food and agricultural produce, automobiles, consumer goods and services trade. Fifteen global automakers, three mining giants, 10 large industrial electric appliances firms, 10 renowned medical equipment enterprises, and the big four accounting and auditing firms confirming their attendance at the upcoming trade fair.

The CIIE has quickly become a must-attend event for companies interested in the Chinese market, including some less developed countries and the developed economies. In addition, the WTO, the UN Industrial Development Organization and the International Trade Centre will also participate in the event, according to the CIIE Bureau.

It's worth noting that the exhibition area of China pavilion will be expanded to 2,500 square meters this year from previous 1,500 square meters, a record high. The latest achievements of China's high-level opening up and high-quality growth will be introduced, so as to attract more foreign capital to invest in the rapidly growing market.

A zone will also be set to showcase the achievements made in the country's free trade pilot zones during the past decade.

The CIIE is the world's first dedicated import exhibition, and its previous editions have recorded eye-catching results. According to Sun, the CIIE has reached a cumulative intended transaction volume of nearly $350 billion and launched more than 2,000 representative new products, new technologies and new services during the past five years.

Global Times