Photo:Chen Tao/GT

About 200 deals and intention agreements were signed at the first China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), worth over 150 billion yuan ($21 billion), according to incomplete statistics, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the organizer of the expo, said on Saturday during a press conference for the closing of the first CISCE.

The supply chain-themed expo was held in Beijing from November 28 to Saturday, attracting a total of 515 domestic and foreign exhibitors. Approximately 26 percent of these exhibitors were international, representing 55 countries and regions., the Global Times learned from CCPIT.

Many exhibitors are already preparing to participate in the second CISCE next year, and have proposed to expand their exhibition areas, Lin Shunjie, chairman of the China International Exhibition Center Group, a co-organizer of the CISCE, said on Saturday at the press conference.

On Friday, a total of 44 Chinese and foreign enterprises signed up to participate in the second supply chain expo, including SAP, GE Healthcare, TCL, Winner Medical, iFLYTEK and Sinopharm, CCPIT said.

Lin said that many multinationals that did not attend the first CISCE expressed their willingness to attend the second edition in 2024. Business councils and associations of the US, UK, France and Canada, among others, said that they will organize larger delegations to attend the second CISCE next year.

"The city and state delegations from Brazil, Kazakhstan and other countries will go to the relevant provinces and cities in China for further investigation and negotiation, and follow up on the implementation of cooperation intentions," Lin said.

Photo taken on November 30 shows the venue of the first China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing. Photo:Chi Jingyi/GT

CCPIT noted that many foreign companies said they will take root in China and increase research and development efforts to provide better products for the Chinese and global markets.

The first CISCE attracted more than 150,000 visitors, of which the number of purchasers and business visitors exceeded 80,000, Zhang Shaogang, Vice Chairman of CCPIT, said on Saturday during the press conference for the closing of the expo.

In addition, more than 1,100 representatives from a spectrum of industries from 90 countries and regions as well as international organizations attended the CISCE.

"Some exhibitors said that they received more than 10,000 visitors within one day. Over one third of the exhibitors had direct contact with more than 10 potential partners on supply chains at the CISCE," said Zhang.

Inner Mongolia Jishuo Technology Co. Ltd is one example. The company is a supply chain service provider for intelligent animal husbandry and has signed up to participate in the second CISCE.

"We had a harvest beyond expectations at the first CISCE, which enabled small and medium-sized enterprises like us to have direct contact with large companies. Therefore, we immediately signed up to attend the second CISCE," Zhao Yun, vice general manager of Jishuo Technology, told the Global Times on Friday.

According to Zhao, there are no expos comparable to the CISCE that allow the company to showcase their whole supply chain service.

"At other professional exhibitions, we used to only display our intelligent farm or our data center, which are part of our services. Now that we can really show our products at the CISCE, some target customers, such as Shenzhen Agricultural Power Group and CITIC Group, came straight for us and reached some deals," said Zhao.

Industry-leading companies such as Sinopharm have also signed up for the second CISCE in 2024.

In an exclusive interview with the Global Times during the CISCE, Ju Jingjin, President of the Biological Products Division at Sinopharm, said that the CISCE has brought together many participants in the health industry supply chain at home and abroad, creating good opportunities for international cooperation

"In today's era of deepening globalization, it is impossible for any field to exist behind closed doors. Therefore, the exchange and sharing of information have become the theme of globalization. The CISCE provides us with a high-level cooperation and exchange platform to achieve information exchange and sharing, which helps us better overcome information barriers and enhance the transparency and synergy of supply chains," said Zhu.

Sinopharm and GE Healthcare, a US multinational medical technology company, jointly built a stand at the first CISCE. They have cooperation in medical device manufacturing, representatives from both firms told the Global Times.