International journalists visit the Shanghai Jiao Tong University on November 8, 2023. (Photo: Chen Xia/GT)

The ongoing sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE), the largest-ever in history, has attracted wide attention of both global exporters and the media. 

During their stay in Shanghai, some foreign reporters who cover this year’s CIIE shared with the Global Times their observations and insights about the expo, an open and efficient channel they believe has much benefited companies from all over the world, including their home countries.

This is the first time that Pakistani journalist Ali Abbas has visited China and covered the CIIE. He thinks that the expo is very important as China offers a level of facilitation that all the companies can enjoy and sell products with their innovative ideas.

“I’ve seen a lot of Pakistani companies come here with their products and they are also learning a lot from the experience from their Chinese counterparts,” Abbas told the Global Times.

As a journalist, Abbas said that when covering the CIIE he is particularly interested in its role in agriculture, as agriculture-based products contribute to a vital part of Pakistan’s economy. “So I’m interested in Chinese and international agriculture companies, and the products and equipment they showcase at the expo,” he said.

For Ethiopian editor Tiruwork Ayalew, this is also her first to time at the CIIE. “I’m grateful to be part of this huge international expo,” she said.

Ayalew thinks of the CIIE as a platform that creates a way to connect global businesspersons. “The expo is a great opportunity for Chinese importers and international exporters, and I think that this is very impressive and interesting,” she told the Global Times.

This is the first CIIE after the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 3,400 exhibitors and 410,000 professional visitors registered to attend, marking a full return to pre-pandemic levels. According to the expo organizers, among the world’s top 500 and industry-leading enterprises, 289 joined this year’s CIIE, exceeding previous participation levels.

The data reflect an improvement in China’s attractiveness to global exporters, said Nigerian reporter Innocent Odoh.

This is the third time that Odoh has visited China. He said that the expanded scale of the CIIE, as well as the increased number of participating countries, companies and individuals, proves the growing importance of the expo. “It has become a major platform for global markets of productivity, as well as an important platform for the enhanced economic cooperation between China and the rest of the world,” he said.

China has a population of 1.4 billion, meaning a very huge market for any product, said Odoh.

Odoh added that Chinese authorities are doing very well in creating a friendly business environment. “It makes sure to make it easier for people to bring in their goods into China as long as they have met regulatory standards, which is what most countries are doing right now,” he told the Global Times.

Echoing Odoh, reporter Tan Xiao Ren from Malaysia shared a detail that he is particularly interested: the US Department of Agriculture led a delegation of US agricultural companies to attend this year’s CIIE. “This is the first time that the US come in the name of the federal [government,]” said Tan. “Then we can see how high the expectations of the world are for the Chinese market.”

Referring to his home country, Tan said that Malaysian small and medium-sized enterprises sent the largest-ever delegation to participate in this year’s CIIE.

“The development of the big Chinese market is essential to many developing countries, including Malaysia,” Tan told the Global Times. “The global economy is in recession after the pandemic. China’s opening up of its market can be a great support and help global economy.”

Apart from covering the CIIE, on Wednesday, more than 30 journalists from some 30 countries visited the time-honored Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), one of China’s prestigious universities for engineering.

At SJTU, they visited the university’s history museum, and the journalists sat down in the library with some international students majoring in journalism and communication to share their professional experiences and feelings about their work in China.

Many of them said that they were impressed by SJTU’s spacious campuses and its modern and convenient facilities, which showcases the development of China’s education and the great importance the country attaches to it.

“As an old Chinese saying goes, ‘it takes 10 years to grow a tree, but a hundred years to nurture a person,’” Tan said to the Global Times in Putonghua. “Visiting the university, I could see the continuous efforts made in the field of education by the Chinese leaders over the past decades.”