The National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), the main venue of the first China International Import Expo (CIIE), in Shanghai, East China Photo: IC

Editor's Note:

The Second China International Import Expo (CIIE) will take place in Shanghai from November 5 to 10. The Global Times interviewed 14 foreign consuls general in Shanghai about the first CIIE last year, and their expectations for the upcoming second CIIE.

Deny Wachyudi Kurnia
Consul General of Indonesia in Shanghai

For this year's CIIE, Indonesia is going to participate in very important ways. Indonesia will send a large delegation to this expo to promote products, knowing the importance of this event. We're hoping that our president [will] consider [attending], and we are thinking about it.

With rich natural resources, Indonesia is an important supplier of vegetables, oils and seafood, as well as bird nests. As the Chinese market grows, we are hoping to sell and promote more coffee drinks, bird nests and tropical fruits to China, such as durian and mango.

Increasingly, we are also expecting to supply the Chinese market more valuated products, including electronics, chemicals, textiles, garments and footwear. Let's see how we are able to make a better connection with China.

Deny Wachyudi Kurnia, Consul General of Indonesia in Shanghai

H.E. Rashed AlQemzi
Consul General of the UAE in Shanghai

Last year, our Minister of Economy was the head of the CIIE delegation. This year, our Minister of Economy will also attend this event with some companies from the UAE.

Food, services and petrochemicals will be the three major things being promoted at the expo.

The CIIE will be an opportunity for us. In July in Beijing, our crown prince visited and we signed a lot of agreements. One of the agreements was to increase the trade exchange between the two countries, which involved both imports and exports.

These agreements set targets for us to achieve $200 billion in trade volume with China by 2030. Now we have reached $41 billion. Moving from $41 billion to $200 billion, there are a lot of things we need to do to increase the exchange between the two countries.

H.E. Rashed AlQemzi, Consul General of the UAE in Shanghai

Sabri Tunc Angili
Consul General of Turkey in Shanghai

First of all, we will have more companies from Turkey with a bigger space in the second CIIE. This shows the interest [in this exhibition] from Turkish companies is gradually increasing.

Like last year, we will have a national pavilion at the CIIE, and we are eager to present different dimensions of modern Turkey - not only the modern level of economic development, but also Turkish culture.

So I am sure that this year's expo, like last year's, will be a great success both for China and for the participating countries like Turkey.

Sabri Tunc Angili, Consul General of Turkey in Shanghai

Andrew Robinson
Consul General of New Zealand in Shanghai

We found the first CIIE in 2018 was useful in two ways: both to build commercial relationships and to understand more about the Chinese market and Chinese consumers. 

For those reasons, this year we are very much looking forward to a strong and comprehensive New Zealand participation in the CIIE again. We will have 37 New Zealand companies participating in the trade pavilion.

One of the unique things being proposed this year is that there will be a New Zealand Week here in Shanghai with a very large range of commercial activities. During the expo, we will hold a very exciting and large modern Maori culture and art exhibition as well. 

So there will be lots of New Zealand activities during the CIIE this year, and I am very much looking forward to it.

Andrew Robinson, Consul General of New Zealand in Shanghai

Pablo Obregón
Consul General of Argentina in Shanghai

Last year's CIIE was a very good experience for our companies. We are increasing our participation. The food and beverage stand will expand from 180 to 350 square meters. We will focus on consolidating products that already have good performances, such as wines and seafood, as well as introducing fruit products recently approved for the Chinese market, such as cherries and blueberries.

We will also have a separate stand for meat products, which is especially noteworthy since, in less than eight months, we doubled beef exports to China (233,000 tons) becoming a leading beef supplier. Given the recent opening of Chinese markets to Argentine pork, we can envision a promising scenario for our meat products (beef, pork, poultry and lamb) to China.

Pablo Obregón, Consul General of Argentina in Shanghai

Lorena Larios Rodriguez
Consul General of Mexico in Shanghai

In the first edition of the CIIE, Mexico was a guest country of honor with a national pavilion and a commercial pavilion at the expo. Now we are looking forward to its second edition in November.

For this occasion, we will have representatives of 55 Mexican companies, and also an important group of local and federal authorities. Most of the companies are from the food industry, including [those that produce] tequila, mezcal, coffee, beef and honey. We appreciate Chinese authorities for their support in coordinating the activities for the Mexican delegation.

Certainly, we are very excited about this year's CIIE as an important moment for Shanghai and of course for the trade relationship between China and Mexico.

Lorena Larios Rodriguez, Consul General of Mexico in Shanghai

Richard Krpač 
Consul General of the Czech Republic in Shanghai

We take the second edition of CIIE extremely seriously. As a guest country of honor, we will have a very strong delegation led by the number two [individual] in our constitutional system, [who is] the president of the parliament. He is bringing with him dozens of Czech companies who would like to find Chinese partners.

We will have not only an excellent national pavilion but also a commercial pavilion. The commercial pavilion will be designed especially for showcasing the craft of the Czech glass and crystal makers. The national pavilion will be designed [to show] the Czech Republic as a country for the future. That means we will use all the best that the Czech Republic can showcase to show the Chinese audiences, purchasers and businessmen how quickly they can develop with their Czech partners.

Richard Krpač, Consul General of the Czech Republic in Shanghai

Vassilis Koniakos
Consul General of Greece in Shanghai

At the first edition of the CIIE we had a very successful presence. This year, our expectations are even higher.

Our presence will be upgraded, as we are one of the expo's 15 guest countries of honor and one of its five European ones. We hope that this year, our delegation will be represented at the highest political level.

We will have two pavilions. A national pavilion of 256 square meters, and a [commercial] pavilion for goods, agriculture and food stuff with more than 30 exhibitors. We have a very big selection of wineries, which will be very interesting for Shanghainese merchants and for those with [fine taste in] wine.

Vassilis Koniakos, Consul General of Greece in Shanghai

Kristin Iglum
Consul General of Norway in Shanghai 

The focus from Norway for this year's CIIE will be on food. We're now working on a joint stand where we can present good food - not only seafood which is already very famous in China, but also new kinds of products like pork and dairy products.

We hope to use the CIIE as a platform to actually have the first chance to present some new products in the Chinese market. We are now working on it, and hope that we will maybe even have our Ministry of Agriculture take part.

Kristin Iglum, Consul General of Norway in Shanghai

Olivier Zehnder
Consul General of Switzerland in Shanghai

We were very committed to engaging in the first CIIE, where we had a national pavilion underlining the importance of innovation, culture and tourism in Switzerland. We also had 23 companies within our national pavilion.

This year, we will again have our companies come. Fortune 500 multinationals like Novartis and ABB will be present. What is even more interesting is that we will have small and medium-sized companies which are active here in China, and for whom the Chinese market is essential. 

These companies always excel in innovative sectors. We will have a lot of wonderful products or processes to show at the next CIIE, which meet the demands of China.

Olivier Zehnder, Consul General of Switzerland in Shanghai

Michele Cecchi
Consul General of Italy in Shanghai

Italy is the second manufacturing country in Europe, and our economy highly relies on exports. In this respect, China is a complementary market in many sectors.

The visit paid by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Italy in March provided the idea of a framework for the signature of the bilateral MoU on the Belt and Road Initiative, with Italy being the first G7 country to sign up.

Italy and Italian companies actively participated in the first edition of the CIIE last year. This year, our participation will be even more important. We are working hard to set up a national pavilion, which may be the most [impressive] one that will fascinate Chinese consumers. We're also working to support Italian companies - more than 150 have already signed up to showcase Italian excellence in sectors such as machinery, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, agriculture, fashion design and luxury goods.

Michele Cecchi, Consul General of Italy in Shanghai

Yok Yee Chan
Consul General of the Republic of Fiji in Shanghai

This year we are taking a more active role in the CIIE preparation. Fiji took a leading role in coordinating the setting up of the Pacific Pavilion at the expo where Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu will jointly share the pavilion.

We will also have our private traders and exporters taking part. Companies of various industries including tourism, airways, beer and water that participated last year will come again in November. 

Currently, China is Fiji's third-largest trading partner. Fiji would like to export more to China. We hope the CIIE platform will further strengthen the business connection with the Chinese business community and the Chinese people.

Yok Yee Chan, Consul General of the Republic of Fiji in Shanghai

Isomata Akio 
Consul General of Japan in Shanghai

Japan actively engaged in the first CIIE last year, with the presence of more than 460 Japanese companies occupying an exhibition space of about 20,000 square meters, as well as a delegation headed by the State Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry. Japan also set up its national pavilion of around 260 SMEs.

The CIIE provided a good opportunity for Japanese companies already operating in China to further promote their business activities in and with China. Small and medium-sized companies from Japan who participated also saw this event as an excellent opportunity to introduce their products to actual and potential Chinese buyers. The total value of transactions for Japanese participants through this event amounted to 58 trillion yen ($534.3 billion).

Isomata Akio, Consul General of Japan in Shanghai

Manorie Mallikaratchy
Consul General of Sri Lanka in Shanghai

The second CIIE is yet another landmark event that China has organized to welcome the goods and services from the world to this vast and resourceful country. Since it is directly supervised by the authorities in Beijing, this expo has become one of the unique events that bring together top companies as well as medium and small enterprises, equally assisted under one roof. 

Sri Lanka will be participating through a national pavilion as well as a commercial pavilion. We will have our dancing troupe performing at the national pavilion and a wide range of products such as gems, tea, processed food, lifestyle products and rubber products. 

Our Secretary for International Trade and Development Strategies will participate along with the Chairperson of Sri Lanka's Export Development Board. We surely look forward to this expo to expand our bilateral trade ties with China.

Manorie Mallikaratchy, Consul General of Sri Lanka in Shanghai