Citizens purchase products at an import expo commodities fair in Shanghai. Photo: VCG

The fourth China International Import Expo's (CIIE) organizers marked the 100-day countdown on Monday as a pre-expo supply-demand matchmaking meeting for exhibitors and buyers from the sectors of food, agriculture, medical equipment and healthcare was held on the same day to provide more opportunities.

More than 70 exhibitors including international industry leaders such as Lesaffre Group, Milk New Zealand Dairy and GE Healthcare, and more than 170 buyers including some major hospitals and medical equipment companies, signed up to attend the meeting.

It will be Lesaffre Group's fourth time to attend the expo. "We enjoyed the CIIE in the past years, where we could increase awareness of the company and make connections with key Chinese suppliers," Jean-Philippe Poulin, vice president for Lesaffre Group, told the Global Times on Monday. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Lesaffre is still investing in China, and "we are really confident on the long-term view about the growth of China," he said.

"Our main purpose is to seek new customers at the expo," which is the one of the best-known expos, Kirichek Dmytro, deputy president of the Shanghai branch of Ukrainian food company Roshen, told the Global Times on Monday, noting that it's his first time at the expo and he's really looking forward to it.

"We met two potential partners in the food and drinks sector at the matchmaking meeting and will seek further connections later," Zhang Yufeng, general manger from Wanpeng Information Technology (Shanghai) Co, told the Global Times on Monday. Zhang said it's his second time to attend the event, and he made good profits from the third expo.

The exhibition area has reached the expected target of 360,000 square meters and the participants will bring exhibits with better quality and much more creativity, Sun Chenghai, deputy director of the CIIE Bureau, said at a press conference held in Shanghai on Monday. The expo will kick off in Shanghai from November 5 to 10 this year as scheduled.

The number of Fortune 500 and industry-leading companies attending the event has exceeded the third expo. "Over 80 percent of those who will present at this year's exhibition are repeat attendees," Sun said, noting that the CIIE is also embracing new entrants, with over 30 Fortune 500 and industry-leading companies coming to the expo for the first time.

It will be the second time for Abbott to attend the event. Faced with the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, China successfully held the third CIIE as scheduled, and committed to further promote high-quality opening up, which "strengthened the confidence of international enterprises to invest in China," Tony Chan, vice president of Abbott's core diagnostics business in China, told the Global Times on Monday.

Notably, "the global top 10 automotive companies and top 10 cosmetics groups will all participate in the fourth CIIE," Sun said, noting that the global top five grain traders will be attending the event together for the first time.

This CIIE consists of country and business exhibitions and the Hongqiao International Economic Forum. So far, over 50 countries have confirmed their attendance. Advanced technology including virtual reality, 3D modeling and other technical means will be used to establish a digital exhibition hall for participating countries, to showcase their national characteristics by theme and apply interactive functions to improve the experience for attendees.

The business exhibition contains six areas -- food and agricultural products, vehicles, technical equipment, consumer goods, medical devices and healthcare.