Swiss luxury group to make its CIIE debut

The Swiss luxury group Richemont will make its debut at the third China International Import Expo and develop an all-round cooperation with the CIIE Bureau.

The group, which owns several of the world's leading luxury brands such as Cartier, Montblanc, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, and Van Cleef & Arpels, will bring 13 brands across four major sectors, namely jewelry, watches, writing instruments and fashion accessories, to the 500-square-meter exhibition area this year.

The two sides also inked a strategic cooperation MoU, making Richemont the first exhibitor to sign such agreement in the history of the CIIE.

“Over the years, China has been one of the most valued markets for Richemont,” said Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Richemont, adding that China boasts broad market prospects as the country is in the fast lane toward greater consumption.

The COVID-19 outbreak will not change Richemont's confidence in China's economic recovery, as evidenced by the signing of the third expo and strategic cooperation, Lambert said.

As an important participating country of the CIIE, Switzerland had 59 enterprises participating in last year’s event, the most out of all European nations. Switzerland also had the largest exhibition area among European participants.

Sun Chenghai, deputy director general of the CIIE Bureau, welcomed Richemont and expressed hope that the company will capitalize on China's economic development opportunities and inject more impetus into China-Switzerland economic and trade ties.

To date, a number of Swiss industrial giants have signed up for the third expo, including SGS Group, Nestle and Louis Dreyfus.

As of early April, more than 1,000 companies have signed up for the third edition of the expo this year, with nearly 60 percent of the planned exhibition space already booked. 

Of note, among this year's new participators are dozens of Global Fortune 500 enterprises and industrial leaders.

There are also some enterprises that participated in the first expo but missed the second, decided to go back to the stage of CIIE. A number of "old friends" that have signed to participate for the third consecutive year expand their exhibition area year by year.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Switzerland.