A snapshot of the National Exhibition and Convention Center Shanghai that serves as the main venue of the 7th China International Import Expo Photo: VCG

The 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE), scheduled to be held in Shanghai from November 5 to 10, has entered the home stretch.

Companies from all over the world are keen to attend the annual trade fair, hoping to tap the huge Chinese market, as the country continues to open its doors wider to overseas businesses.

The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) will be leading a delegation of up to 400 business representatives from 44 Singapore businesses to participate in the upcoming 7th CIIE.

China's ongoing economic reforms and efforts to attract foreign investment have fueled strong participation in CIIE, the SBF said in a press release shared with the Global Times. "CIIE continues to be a key platform for companies looking to establish their presence in China, access Chinese audiences and expand their networks in the market," it said.

As an important platform that promotes international procurement, boosts investment opportunities and expands opening-up, the spillover effects of the CIIE continue to grow.

French multinational Schneider Electric will attend the event for the seventh time, bringing a range of new products and innovations that integrate digital, automation, and electrification technologies, including end-to-end solutions powered by AI.

"As an engine of global development, the Chinese market has broad prospects and vitality. In particular, China continues to ramp up investment in innovation and accelerate the comprehensive transformation and upgrading of the industrial value chain, which will create more opportunities for diverse industries," Yin Zheng, Executive Vice President of Schneider Electric's China & East Asia Operations, told the Global Times.

The 7th CIIE will again demonstrate China's confidence in high-level opening-up to the world and its determination to create new drivers of economic growth, Yin said. 

Win-win opportunities

It will also create opportunities for multinational companies to further explore the Chinese market and achieve win-win cooperation results, he said.

In recent days, exhibits have been intensively shipped to China for the expo. On October 20, the first "Jinbo" China-Europe freight train carrying exhibits for the 7th CIIE arrived in Shanghai, marking the fourth consecutive year that CIIE exhibition items have been transported to Shanghai via the China-Europe freight train service, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"Jinbo" is short for CIIE in Chinese. The train, which traveled more than 11,000 km over 21 days, was loaded with 76 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers of goods valued at approximately 100 million yuan ($14.08 million), including cosmetics and mechanical equipment.

Since its first edition in 2018, the CIIE, the world's first national-level import-themed expo, has become an important event highlighting China's new development paradigm, a platform for high-level opening-up, and a public good for the whole world.

The 7th CIIE is themed "new era, shared future." It has attracted participants from 152 countries, regions and international organizations, and achieved a new record with 297 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders set to attend, Tang Wenhong, assistant minister of commerce, told a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

"Foreign entrepreneurs will see by themselves at the upcoming trade fair that China welcomes businesses from all countries, treats them equally, and all enterprises operating in China are protected by Chinese law," He Weiwen, a senior fellow from the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Growing participation 

The CIIE is a valuable opportunity for companies across the world to deepen the Chinese market and expand exports to China. The participation of more foreign companies underscores their confidence in the prospects of China's economy and reflects their high expectation for China's continued opening-up, the trade expert said.

Singapore business interest in China has remained robust. According to SBF's National Business Survey 2023-24, China is one of the top three countries that Singapore businesses have a presence and China is among the top three destinations in Asia that Singapore businesses are looking to expand into.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday, China's GDP expanded by 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2024, reaching 94.97 trillion yuan. This demonstrates that China's economy continues to display strong resilience despite facing a barrage of internal and external challenges.

Given better-than-expected GDP growth rate in the third quarter, along with a series of support policies by Chinese government, UBS analysts led by Wang Tao have recently upgraded projection for China's real GDP growth rate for 2024 to 4.8 percent year-on-year, according to a note sent to the Global Times on Monday.

The previous six editions of CIIE featured nearly 2,500 new products, technologies and services making their debuts at the event, with combined intended turnover reaching over $420 billion.

He Weiwen forecasted that the intended turnover at this year's CIIE is expected to surpass $80 billion, and more cooperation results are expected, thanks to China's robust development of new quality productive forces, typically in cutting-edge tech innovations and the green new-energy field.

The CIIE created a great opportunity for enterprises and commodities worldwide to "buy globally, sell globally" and thus contributes to the prosperity of international trade, He said.

In early October, two 150-kilogram-level Maltese bluefin tuna were imported to China, China News Service reported on October 15, citing Shanghai Pudong International Airport customs. It marks the first time that China imports Maltese bluefin tuna since its debut at the 6th CIIE in 2023.

"Foreign enterprises will showcase more goods for Chinese consumers in the future," He noted.