A key driver of progress

Leveraging CIIE

Shanghai has also been using and will continue to use the CIIE as a platform to push the city's further reform and opening-up, said the city's mayor.

For example, the city has called on its State-owned enterprises (SOEs), private enterprises and foreign-funded entities to use the expo as a platform for international cooperation which would result in a high quality development of the city's economy, said Ying, who witnessed a delegation of SOEs from Shanghai signing trading agreements with foreign enterprises at this year's CIIE.

The delegation of SOEs from Shanghai which comprised more than 3,500 buyers signed more than 100 trading agreements with foreign enterprises at the expo in fields such as intelligent high-end equipment, medical and healthcare, auto parts, food and agricultural products and service trade.

According to the municipal government, these agreements will encourage the establishment of more joint ventures between SOEs and foreign companies in the city's pillar and strategic emerging industries.

As the world's first national import expo, the CIIE is a landmark undertaking in the history of international trade. The event, which gathered 3,617 companies from 151 countries and regions, ended on Nov 10, with the value of potential deals made amounting to $57.8 billion.

Scientific researchers in the delta region have said that the CIIE is more than a platform for trading but also a good exchange platform as it allows industry players to be exposed to cutting-edge technology from across the globe.

"Such a transparent exhibition platform provides abundant opportunities for communication between the technology suppliers and purchasers, allowing them to learn each other's needs," said Huang Zhengren, director of Ningbo Institute of Industrial Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Greater knowledge of such needs will help to apply more research results from the country in the market, even in the global market."

To further invigorate the city's private economy, which has greatly contributed to its quest to become a city of innovation, the Shanghai government announced in a document released on Nov 3 that it has earmarked 30 billion yuan as financial assistance for small- and medium-sized private enterprises, most of which are in the tech sector.

Wang Yu, president of Shanghai Yuking Water Soluble Material Tech, which sells its products to medicine producers in more than 100 countries, said that he expects competitive small private businesses from strategic emerging industries to receive more help so that they could better represent the country in the international arena.

"The biggest advantage of the private economy is its strong innovation ability, which can constantly adapt to changes in the market environment," said Tan Limin, CEO of Shanghai Westwell Information and Technology Company, a startup specializing in artificial intelligence that was established in 2015.

"We hope that we can make every effort to contribute our AI expertise to the country so that it can become a world power in science and technology."

Contact the writer at zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn