Executives from a vast range of industries hail opening of the CIIE
Editor's notes:
The 6th China International Import Expo opened in Shanghai on Sunday, with Chinese President Xi Jinping sending a letter to pledge firm efforts to advance high-standard opening-up. Here are some feedbacks from executives of participating companies, covering a wide range of industries and different sizes.
Brice-Audren Riché, CEO of Lesaffre
I'm very honoured to be attending the opening ceremony of the CIIE for the first time. It has shown me the unparalleled influence of this platform. In President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter, we learned that China, relying on the CIIE, will bring new opportunities and development to the world, promoting win-win cooperation.
Lesaffre has long benefited from China's open and developing economy, and we will seize this opportunity to continue rooting ourselves in the Chinese market. During the opening ceremony, we also learned that about 3,500 companies are participating this year, with over 200 of them being first-time participants. The allure of the CIIE is growing stronger, and we, as Lesaffre, are honored to have been part of it for six consecutive times.
Fabrice Megarbane, Chief Executive Officer of L'Oréal China, President of the North Asia Zone
I strongly agree with what President Xi Jinping said in his letter: "China will always be an important opportunity for world development, firmly boost high-level opening up, and keep promoting economic globalization towards a more open, inclusive, and win-win direction."
CIIE is exactly a new development pattern and provides new opportunities for the world with China's new development.
L'Oréal has been a beneficiary during the past five years. During 2019 to 2023, we have doubled our business size and consolidated our leadership by gaining substantial more of market share.
This year, our booth theme, 'beauty for all, beauty for each' perfectly captures the diverse range of beauty tech solutions and open innovation achievements that we believe will shape the future of beauty.
For the sixth year running, CIIE serves as an important backdrop to key milestones in our open innovation ecosystem and will continue to serve as a great platform for collaborating with new partners.
Tore Prang, Executive Vice President of Heraeus
We welcome the view that technology and innovation will be key for a sustainable world and future global growth.
Heraeus supports this by many innovation and expansion projects on circular economy, engineered materials for green hydrogen and photovoltaic as well as efficiency boosting products in electronics and semiconductor.
Lily Dong, Vice President & General Manager of AbbVie China
Through the CIIE, we have seen that China is opening its door wider and wider, that the Chinese market is becoming a major opportunity for AbbVie, and that AbbVie's innovative drugs are changing from being only available as pictures to drug boxes to being covered by the National Reimbursement Drug List.
Employees of AbbVie China have increased from 400 plus to more than 2,200 in the past decade. We have entered AbbVie China 2.0 era. At AbbVie, we will continue to embrace opportunities in China, to demonstrate the Chinese speed and the Chinese wisdom through the CIIE. While accelerating the introduction of our global innovative products to China, we will also share the Chinese solution with the global.
For the next 10 years, we are expected to have more than 30 new products or new indications approved in China by 2030 by leveraging the spillover effect of the CIIE. We will work with various stakeholders to improve health care for Chinese patients and Chinese people in general. AbbVie is committed to collaborating with all parties to make continuous progress towards the goal of "Healthy China 2030."
Yin Zheng, Executive Vice President of China & East Asia Operations, Schneider Electric
As "a window for the world to closely observe and better understand China's new development paradigm," the 6th CIIE has once again demonstrated China's commitment to opening-up and sharing development opportunities with the world.
It also provides precious support to enable global enterprises to deeply cultivate the Chinese market.
A participant of the CIIE for six consecutive years and operating in China for 36 years, Schneider Electric has established a "China Hub" strategy, and has brought innovative achievements from its "China Hub" strategy to this world-level platform.
With "Net-Zero City" as the theme this year, Schneider Electric forges close collaborations with Chinese partners from all industries. Hand in hand, we work with all parties to empower the "dual transformation" for China, which includes digitization and decarbonization.
Our "China Hub" strategy is based on local talent and driven by innovation.
We have built an agile internal mechanism covering the whole value chain from R&D, supply chain and partnership, and a strengthened ecosystem externally, so to better serve Chinese market and customers swiftly.
As a result, we have established five R&D centers in China and a co-innovation model with partners, together we provide advanced green, innovative products and digital solutions for the market.
Paul Hudson, CEO of Sanofi
President Xi in his letter to CIIE, emphasizes the importance of economic globalization and the need for a more open, inclusive, and balanced approach that benefits all parties. This message resonates deeply with Sanofi's core values and our long-standing commitment to China. Sanofi is pleased with the Chinese government's unwavering commitment to expanding China's high-level openness to the world.
It injects a significant boost into the global economic landscape, offering tremendous opportunities for multinational corporations, including Sanofi. With over four decades of deep roots in China, we have witnessed the relentless efforts to elevate China's international openness and enhance the quality of the business environment.
Sanofi shares President Xi Jinping's vision of fostering international collaboration and leveraging the opportunities presented by China's vast market. Sanofi together with our various Chinese partners, engage in vibrant dialogues and synergies. Openness begets shared opportunities, and it converges towards innovative progress, moreover, it paves the way for multi-party mutual success.
Sanofi, in partnership with China, will continue our purpose of chasing the miracles of science to improve people's lives as we concentrate on the diverse health needs of Chinese patients. We will continue to look for opportunities in China to facilitate the swifter and more effective introduction of rich global innovative achievements, thereby contributing to the realization of "Healthy China 2030."
Jerry Wang, President of Siemens Healthineers China
Openness is the foundation for innovation. Only an environment that is "open," "inclusive" and "cooperative" can stimulate innovation and benefit a broader swath of people to yield a greater social impact.
Since the first CIIE, Siemens Healthineers has been an active participant for six consecutive years, introducing more than 70 world-leading medical technology innovations to the Chinese market.
This effort has led to a comprehensive localization in R&D, production, talent, and cooperation. The Chinese market has also become the second-largest market for Siemens Healthineers on a global scale.
Looking ahead, we observe that the CIIE is developing from a "policy platform" into a high-level platform for "greater bilateral openness and innovative industries," which, in turn, provides us with expanded opportunities for development.
We will make sustained efforts to enhance and deepen "Chinese Wisdom, Global Co-creation," forge connections with more internal and external partners, accelerate the momentum of innovation in medical technology, and assist the Chinese medical and health industry in their transition from "high speed" to "high quality" development.
Sally Loh, President of Otis China
CIIE serves as a platform for China to establish a new development pattern and facilitate high-level openness. It aims to provide the world with the nation's development opportunities in the new era and achieve mutual benefits.
With the principle of "In China, for China and the World", Otis is committed to the Chinese market and expects to continue to support China's high-quality development.
We have strong confidence in our business development in China as an important country for global investment.
We have made significant investments in China – we have our largest global R&D center and global highrise center located in Shanghai; largest escalator factory in Jiaxing; largest Skyrise elevator facility in Tianjin.
All of them serve China and global markets. Our factories are integrating Industry 4.0 standards and are working towards reaching carbon-neutrality for factory electricity by 2030 and achieving 100 per cent factory eligibility for zero-waste-to-landfill certification by 2025 as part of our ESG goals.
We continue to pursue technological innovation through investment in high-end manufacturing and R&D in China, while cooperating with government stakeholders and industry partners to establish China as a global innovation powerhouse.
Will Song, Global Senior Vice President and China Chairman of Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson has participated in the CIIE for six straight years. We firmly believe that China's development will give new impetus for the world's development as a whole and China's innovation will play an increasingly important role in the global arena.
During recent years, we have seen an acceleration in the introduction of innovative products and services into China. Equally important, we continue to notice a rise in on-the-ground innovation happening among global collaborations. At Johnson & Johnson, we will keep strengthening our local capabilities across R&D, high-end manufacturing and partnership while continuing to introduce innovations and play a bigger role in China's economic development.
Johnson & Johnson is committed to supporting the Chinese government to build a high quality health-care system to serve the Chinese population as well as making contributions to China's modernization. The next era of innovation is here in China.
Xinting Ren, Managing Director of KraussMaffei China
The success of CIIE showcased China's unwavering commitment to high-level open development, reinforcing KraussMaffei's confidence in our market expansion in China.
This year marks the 185th anniversary of KraussMaffei Group, and we are wholeheartedly embracing the CIIE stage with our long-standing dedication to innovation, fostering deeper communication with diverse industries, and facilitating closer connections between China and the world.
As a leading manufacturer of machines and systems for producing and processing plastics and rubber and the overseas subsidiary of Sinochem Holdings, KraussMaffei maintains a steadfast optimism regarding the immense allure and growth potential of the Chinese market.
We consistently prioritize China as one of our key growth markets, strategically propelling our business development from China to the world.
At the 6th CIIE, KraussMaffei will bring frontier technologies, solutions, and customized services to customers in China and around the world in the automotive, packaging, medical and construction industries, and to electrical and electronic product and household appliance manufacturers, among others.
Rajat Agarwal, Vice President of Henkel Group, President of Henkel China
We are greatly appreciative of President Xi Jinping's letter to CIIE, emphasizing a dedication to "steadfastly promote high-level openness and continuously drive economic globalization towards a more open, inclusive, beneficial, balanced, and win-win direction. "
With a history deeply embedded in China for over half a century, we believe that the nation is cultivating an improved business environment, fortifying the assurance of foreign enterprises, including Henkel, to expand within China.
The CIIE exemplifies China's commitment to conducting business with the global community on an open and shared platform.
This exposition draws in distinguished brands and leading-edge technologies from both China and worldwide.
We eagerly look forward to reinforcing our collaboration with local and international corporations on this inclusive platform, nurturing cooperation and advancement within this burgeoning market.
Adele Tao, Senior Vice President, LIXIL Group, CEO of LIXIL Water Technology China
With years of dedication in China, LIXIL has witnessed China's increasingly prosperous development and as well as China's practical achievements in creating a "fair, transparent, predictable" market-oriented and world-class business environment governed by a sound legal framework.
The successful holding of the CIIE for six consecutive years is also another strong proof that China continues to optimize the business environment and "promote a higher level of opening-up to the world".
This year, CIIE has fully resumed offline events for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a platform for global enterprises to seize opportunities and reach new heights.
It also demonstrates China's commitment to promoting higher levels of openness and sharing development opportunities with the world.
China will continue to be the strategic market with great significance for LIXIL, and we will continue to resonate with China's constantly improving business environment.
Meanwhile, we also look forward to the wider opening-up of China's win-win cooperation, providing more "China's Opportunities" for LIXIL and other companies around the world.
LIXIL has officially signed up for the 7th CIIE. We hope that through CIIE, multinationals can enhance communication, expand cooperation, and jointly write the "CIIE story" of openness, cooperation, innovation, and win-win.
Ian Shih, President of Rockwell Automation China
We are greatly appreciative of President Xi's letter to the sixth CIIE, emphasizing a dedication to "steadfastly promote high-level openness and continuously drive economic globalization towards a more open, inclusive, beneficial, balanced, and win-win direction".
The year 2023 marks the 45th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up.
As the country continues opening up at an increasingly advanced level and keeps on advancing Chinese modernization through its high-quality development, we are witnessing outstanding opportunities for collaboration and growth.
The CIIE offers a critical platform to link domestic and international trade, as well as to enable China's new, top-level development path.
Rockwell Automation has been in China since 1988. For 35 years, we have been expanding our capabilities as well as local collaborations, dedicated to empowering the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry for a more intelligent and sustainable future.
Toshinobu Umetsu, President & CEO of Shiseido China
I'm very much inspired by China's commitment to further high-quality opening up and CIIE stories shared by Prime Minister Li at today's opening ceremony.
Although the global economy has returned to growth this year, recovery momentum is not strong enough. China's determination to build an open economy therefore brings much-needed stability and driving power into the world.
China's own large economy, the vast potential of its consumer market, and its high economic growth rates have allowed many multinational companies, including Shiseido, to enjoy the precious and rich resources and achieve long-term growth over the years.
Deeply rooted in China for more than 40 years, Shiseido has fully witnessed China's commitment to "growing together with the world".
While promoting high-quality development, China continues to inject momentum into domestic and global economic development through the CIIE.
The Expo presents us with a high-value platform through which to identify more market, investment, and growth opportunities. Throughout our time in China, Shiseido has remained fully confident in the China market and equally determined in our commitment to invest here.
More than 40 years ago, we came to China to invest; today, we invest in China.
Cecilia Qi, vice president and general manager of GSK China
As President Xi emphasized in his letter, China is an important opportunity for global development, and the Chinese market is an enormous market shared by the world.
The 6th CIIE demonstrates China's strong dedication to high-level opening-up and its resolve to extend opportunities to the global community.
With China's steadfast commitment and well-defined trajectory on openness, we have great confidence in the continuous growth of its economy and hold a positive outlook for the nation's health-are sector.
As a witness and participant of China's health-care industry development, GSK has long been dedicated to this dynamic and open market.
We have leveraged the CIIE to expedite the introduction of world-leading innovative products in China, benefiting a wider population.
Capitalizing on the expo's momentum, GSK is upscaling its local network to build a community of health. Our commitment to a long-term presence in China is unwavering, and we are dedicated to contributing to China's high-quality growth with increased zeal, delivering transformative health impacts to patients and the public.
Zafer Unluer, Senior Vice President of Organon and President of Organon China
Openness and cooperation promote the building of a big market shared by the world.
The opening letter delivered by President Xi Jinping at the 6th CIIE and the declaration made by the Premier Li at the opening ceremony that China will continue to promote economic globalization in the direction of more open, inclusive, benefit-to-all, balanced and win-win development is very encouraging.
It reinforces Organon's firm determination of "In China, for China and in China for the Global", and sustained investment for a better and healthier every day for every woman and their families.
