China's largest tech fair gives glimpse at the world of tomorrow in Shenzhen

Attendees at the China Hi-Tech Fair in 2019 gather at its main exhibition hall. CHINA DAILY

The 22nd China Hi-Tech Fair gets underway on Wednesday in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, showcasing the latest scientific research achievements from around the world.

As the largest high-tech fair in China, the CHTF plays a vital role in promoting the transformation of scientific research results into commercial applications and boosting international cooperation, the organizers said.

The underlying goal of the event is to "transform the future with technology and drive development with innovation". The CHTF will run until Nov 15. Nearly 150 activities will be held during the five-day fair including a main exhibition,two parallel exhibitions, and several forums and conferences.

The main exhibition, covering an area of more than 120,000 square meters, will attract a large number of high-tech enterprises and institutions from home and abroad, the organizers said.

Products showcased cover various advanced fields including new energy, biotechnology, smart city and aerospace.

Beijing Jiaotong University, one of the exhibitors, is presenting its super capacitor energy storage system for urban rail transport, which has helped save energy by 20 percent for subways in preliminary tests.

A delegation from Austria, consisting of 10 high-tech companies,will promote their technologies in unmanned vehicles and new materials.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event has built a remote exhibition center for the international display area, allowing foreign exhibitors to participate in the event online and showcase their products via digital multimedia and virtual reality technology.

In addition, the fair has launched an online exhibition on its website where visitors can watch most exhibits in a 3D pavilion and learn about their information in more detail.

The CHTF is committed to innovation, the organizers said. It is integrating online and offline exhibitions this year to provide better services and bring more Chinese opportunities to overseas enterprises, said Su Yanwei, deputy director of the CHTF Organizing Committee Office.

To support the global fight against COVID-19, the fair has placed more attention on the healthcare sector and emerging industries spawned by the epidemic. A special area has been set up displaying cutting-edge equipment and technologies used for epidemic prevention and control.

Exhibitors demonstrate products such as anti-fogging protective goggles, body temperature warning systems, and pipeline inspection robots.

Another highlight of the fair, the China Hi-Tech Forum 2020, runs from Nov 11-13. It brings together top scientists, academicians and corporate leaders from around the world to discuss recent research results and new trends in the field of high-tech.

Topics of this year's forum include key technologies of the next 10 years,the application of artificial intelligence, the space economy, and life in the post-epidemic era.

The forum will offer not only insights and inspiration, but also a glimpse into the future, the organizers said.

The fair also serves as a bridge for cooperation among investors and companies, with an array of matchmaking and financing activities held every year.

Using a teleconference system,some financing events have moved over to the cloud this year, giving Chinese investors access to projects from around the world.

Statistics show that more than 100 projects and 50 financial institutions have registered to take part in the matchmaking event.

Serving as a platform to demonstrate the world's technological development, the annual event first took place in 1999 and attracts hundreds of thousands of visits every year.

zhanglinwan@chinadaily.com.cn