The first China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) kicks off on November 28, 2023 in Beijing. File Photo: VCG

An exhibition area for advanced manufacturing will be added to the second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), aiming to boost new quality productive forces. So far, more than 160 enterprises from home and abroad have confirmed their participation in the expo, the Global Times learned on Friday.

The second CISCE is scheduled to be held from November 26 to 30 in Beijing, and preparatory work is already in full swing, said Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), which is the organizer of the expo, on Friday evening at an event named "Networking Reception of the Second CISCE."

"After research, we decided to add an exhibition area for the advanced manufacturing chain. This is an important innovation of the second CISCE," Ren said.

In 2023, the first CISCE showcased five major supply chains: the intelligent vehicle chain, the green agriculture chain, the cleaner energy chain, the digital technology chain, and the healthy life chain.

According to Ren, the newly added advanced manufacturing chain exhibition area will focus on new quality productive forces and display the whole industrial chain in an all-round and multi-angle way, from front-end research and development (R&D), application of new materials and processing of key parts to intelligent manufacturing. Products such as industrial automation, robots, advanced equipment, high-end equipment and construction machinery will be displayed.

Participants at the Friday event said that the industrial chain and supply chain are the "blood vessel system" of economic development. Consolidating and strengthening global industrial chain and supply chain cooperation is in the interests of all parties, the Global Times learned.

Through exchanges by the upper, middle and lower reaches of the supply chain, and the integration of large, small and medium-sized enterprises, the CISCE can help enterprises find supply chain partners globally, and also help them to apply the latest scientific research achievements to all links of the industrial chain, Director General of CCPIT Academy Zhao Ping told the Global Times on Friday on the sidelines of the event.

"Therefore, all links of the supply chain - from R&D, production, distribution and logistics to consumption - can complement each other, and promote the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry," said Zhao.

The security, stability and smooth cooperation of the global supply chain is indeed the concern of the business communities of all countries, Lin Shunjie, chairman of the China International Exhibition Center Group, the co-organizer of the CISCE, told the Global Times on Friday.

"The supply chain expo, the first of its kind in the world, aims to provide cooperation opportunities between global enterprises and help enterprises develop partners alongside the supply chain," said Lin.

Many multinationals that did not attend the first CISCE expressed their willingness to attend the second edition this year. Some previous participants have asked to increase their exhibition area, Lin said.

"Apart from enterprises from the US and European countries, companies from Latin America, Japan and Southeast Asia are contacting us, hoping to attend the second CISCE," Lin noted, adding that last year during the first expo, US enterprises took up 45 percent of the exhibition area for overseas enterprises.

Ren also mentioned that executives of the world's top 500 companies such as Budweiser, Novo Nordisk, Procter & Gamble, HSBC and CMA CGM have expressed their desire to participate in the second CISCE.

But Lin also noted that since the exhibition area is limited, they will be strict in choosing participants. "We just started building a new convention complex to accommodate more enterprises," Lin added.

The first CISCE concluded in December 2023 with about 200 business deals and cooperation agreements signed, worth more than 150 billion yuan ($21 billion), the Global Times learned from CCPIT.

The first expo attracted 515 domestic and foreign exhibitors. Approximately 26 percent of the exhibitors were from overseas, representing 55 countries and regions. US and European firms accounted for 36 percent of overseas exhibitors.