Photo: Li Hao/GT

China provides great opportunities and a vast market for US enterprises, and China and the US cannot "decouple" in the economic and trade area, a number of US businesses attending the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) told the Global Times.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng started his US visit on Wednesday, at the invitation of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and the Chinese and US officials are expected to hold talks on trade and the economy. Previously, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also visited the US, holding talks with the US side on a wide range of diplomatic topics.

Amid frequent China-US exchanges from high-level officials to local governments, more than 200 US exhibitors in the fields of semiconductors, medical devices, new-energy vehicles, cosmetics, and other sectors have attended this year's CIIE, marking the largest US presence at the expo so far.

On Saturday, the first day of the 6th CIIE, US chemical giant Dow agreed on an order with Chinese company ZKH Group. Dow will provide ZKH with silicone products valued at $300 million. Puay Koon Chia, Dow Asia Pacific president, said that the huge and dynamic Chinese market is the key to the company's development strategy.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) also set up a pavilion at the expo for the first time. The 440-square-meter US Food and Agriculture Pavilion opened its doors to visitors on Monday, with 17 exhibitors from the US states of Idaho and Georgia as well as American agricultural exporters displaying their products.

The results Chinese and US companies achieved at the CIIE show that the US business community values the Chinese market, which runs counter to the "decoupling" rhetoric.

US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said during the CIIE that the US and China have a vital economic and trade relationship, and the US is not in favor of decoupling from China.

The Idaho state government has participated in the CIIE several times before. Seeing that more exhibitors were present at the expo this year under the organization of the USDA, Tara Qu, chief representative of the China Office of the State of Idaho, told the Global Times that there is no way that China-US trade can be interrupted. "We are interdependent," Qu said.

Anderson Northwest, an agricultural firm from Idaho signed a deal with its Chinese cooperation partner on Monday. Mike Anderson, president of the company told the Global Times that China has become its largest overseas market and the country serves as a stable market for US agricultural companies, so the two parties need more cooperation.

Staff members from the US Cranberry Marketing Committee told the Global Times that they hope to promote the cranberries of California in China. The booth was surrounded by visitors and there was a very active government procurement group at the CIIE, they said. Some Chinese local government officials are also seeking to strengthen bilateral cooperation on cranberry supply chains through the expo.

Jason Hafemeister, the acting deputy under secretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs at the USDA, also attended this year's CIIE. "Hafmeister represents not only the USDA, but also the US government, reflecting Washington's desire to maintain and develop the US-China trade and investment relationship," He Weiwen, a senior fellow of the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Thursday.

ADM, one of the world's top four grain traders, also brought a variety of new products for its debut at the expo. "China's practice of unswervingly promoting high-level opening-up has made the annual CIIE like a huge 'magnet' that attracts the world's top companies," said Zhu Linbo, ADM's China president.

In addition to agricultural companies, a large number of US enterprises engaging in semiconductor, medical devices and other sectors also made an appearance at the CIIE.

Intel has participated in the CIIE for six consecutive years. Zhou Bing, vice president of Intel Corporation and general manager of corporate affairs at Intel China, told the Global Times that the CIIE has become a vital platform for understanding policies, communicating with customers and observing China's market demand. "We will continue to participate in the expo," Zhou said.

Yann Bozec, president of Tapestry Asia Pacific and president and CEO of Coach China, told the Global Times on Tuesday that after the pandemic, the CIIE this year is full of hope. Tapestry has always been optimistic about the Chinese market and is committed to investing in it.

"Many people asked me where the rapid growth that has occurred in China over the past 10 years can occur next. My answer has always been the same: The next China is still China," he said, noting that the trade links between the world's top two economies are pivotal on a global scale, and more trade exchanges are good for China, the US and the world.