CIIE to go more inclusive, professional and digital

While the exhibition area of the upcoming fourth China International Import Expo remains the same from last year, its content will be more diverse, professional, and feature online items to facilitate trade and business cooperation, the organizers said on the Expo's 50-day countdown on Thursday.

Zhou Yanling, deputy general manager of the business exhibition division of the CIIE Bureau, said more small and medium-sized enterprises are coming in groups to participate in the fourth annual event, and the number of such attending enterprises was up by 30 percent versus last year.

Trade agencies, such as those from Japan, Denmark, Poland and New Zealand, have all increased their booths to house more small exhibitors. "The Central and Eastern Europe booth has more than 1,500 square meters with 60 companies," Zhou said.

A total of 13 themed zones will be set to attract professional buyers, focusing on hot industries, such as chips, biomedicine, smart mobility and low-carbon technologies. As Beijing will host the Winter Olympics in 2022, the sport zone will be very popular with its exhibition area increased by 2,000 sq m from last year to 9,800 sq m.

Around 100 sub-events will be held during the expo, including the forum to be jointly held by the Ministry of Commerce and Hong Kong delegations, the conference by the New Development Bank on infrastructure that facilitates trade, and a summit on overseas Chinese and the domestic market.

Wang Hongwei, head of the buyers service division of the CIIE Bureau, said they have held 17 roadshows in the past months to introduce the expo to a wider range of businesses, and attracted more than 2,600 domestic companies.

The CIIE Bureau and Bank of China will hold large matchmaking conferences during the expo from Nov 6 to Nov 8, where one-on-one meetings will be arranged between buyers and exhibitors with services like interpretation and video links.

In the past three years, the on-site matchmaking conferences have helped more than 3,000 exhibitors and 7,000 buyers reach deals or future cooperation agreements, said Liu Wei, general manager of the inclusive finance department at Bank of China's Shanghai branch.

This year, the country exhibition will be held online with an offline experience zone in the North Hall of the venue, where visitors can use virtual reality devices to tour the online exhibition hall, said Cui Ying, director of the country exhibition division of the CIIE Bureau.

Apart from those registered for CIIE visits, other visitors interested in the event will also be able to access the online country exhibition through the official website and app of the event, Cui said.