CIIE showcases innovation, global confidence in China's market

The China International Import Expo, where cutting-edge technologies are demonstrated and ideas exchanged, has become an essential event for multinational companies looking to better tap into the rapidly evolving Chinese market, officials and top executives said.

Wu Zhengping, deputy head of the CIIE Bureau, said that a new high of 461 technologies, products, and service items debuted at the six-day 8th annual CIIE, which concluded in Shanghai on Monday.

The value of intended deals reached at this year's CIIE rose 4.4 percent year-on-year to arrive at a record high of about $83.5 billion, Wu said.

Companies attending the CIIE have understood that China is not only a massive consumer market, but also a partner willing to cooperate and create mutual benefits via independent innovation, he said.

Zhu Min, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal Government, said that the CIIE is the in-depth practice of China's ongoing opening-up, which benefits various parties via closer ties.

Jorg Buchheim, chairman of the management board of German auto parts supplier Webasto Group, said that exchanging new ideas and getting feedback via the CIIE can help the company to see "what can be innovated next", and what the company can do even better "for cars of tomorrow".

While the Chinese market is quite competitive, multinational precision technologies company Hexagon AB is still drawn to it thanks to its openness for new technologies, according to Andreas Renulf, the company's president of the manufacturing intelligence division.

"What makes China a little bit unique is the speed," he said, adding that this has been quite different from that 10 years ago. "A lot of the technological development is happening here and we use that for the rest of the world."

Also defining China as a "fast-paced market", Astrid Norgaard Friis, group vice-president of Grundfos, a manufacturing company from Denmark, said that a company needs to be "super agile and innovative" in the Chinese market. The CIIE allows multinational companies to pick up on the trends here.

While the Chinese market is very promising, any foreign company aiming to enter here "has to be local", she added.

Escipion J. Oliveira-Gomez, director of the Division of Country Programmes at the International Trade Centre, agreed with Friis, saying that foreign companies should pay special attention to the needs of China, which is a very demanding market "that is growing day by day".

About 4,108 overseas companies were present at this year's CIIE, with the combined exhibition area reaching a new record of over 367,000 square meters. A total of 180 multinational companies have attended all eight editions of the expo.

Companies have already signed up for over 80,000 square meters of exhibition area for the 9th CIIE to be held in November next year, according to Wu of the CIIE Bureau.

Jacky Zou, chairman of professional services provider KPMG in China, said that steady advancement of institutional opening-up and better alignment with the international high-standard economic and trade rules have been underlined in the recently unveiled proposal for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).

These will lead to more mechanisms via which the world can better enjoy the new opportunities churned out from the Chinese market, he said.

While global trade faces much complexity and uncertainty, China's continued opening-up and steady economic growth have brought confidence to international investment and cooperation. This has been reflected in the CIIE, Bill Winters, group chief executive of the multinational bank Standard Chartered, said, which has attended the expo eight years in a row.