CIIE a powerful platform in China's continued opening-up
Editor's notes:
China is committed to broader, deeper and higher-level opening-up, with the ongoing China International Import Expo a platform to show the strong determination. This year, the CIIE and the Hongqiao International Economic Forum, a significant part of the CIIE, was put under some major sessions, namely, Opening-up for Development, Opening-up for Cooperation, Opening-up for Innovation, Opening-up for Sharing, as well as Belt and Road Initiative, all of which shed light on China's route of further openness.
The 6th China International Import Expo has once again proved to be a powerful exchange platform, demonstrating China's commitment to balancing trade relations with countries around the world.
Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), made a point of the importance of opening-up for development at the CIIE.
"As China has proven, opening-up is not just about removing trade barriers or encouraging investment, it is about opening minds to new ideas and hearts to cultural exchange," Grynspan said.
Established multinationals and leading players praised China's continued efforts at opening up the market to inject new momentum for development in a range of industry sectors.
EY China Chairman and China Regional Managing Partner Jack Chan said the company fully leveraged the expo to present a full range of professional services to empower industrial upgrading and inject strong momentum for high-quality development.
"The expo offers us a window to further convey China's voice, demonstrate China's open stance, and fully showcase China's robust energy," he said.
Artificial intelligence generated content, sustainable transformation and transformation tools are the highlight at EY's booth as it seeks partnerships at home and abroad.
Leon Wang, executive vice president of AstraZeneca, said that "the return of face-to-face meetings means this year's edition would be the best and most highly anticipated ever."
The expo is also highly attractive for different levels of local government, especially those along the major economic belts.
Holistic disease management approaches, especially in the metabolic disease area, have been further expanded at this year's fair and a standardized disease management approach for diabetes patients would be deployed at local chain pharmacies through AstraZeneca's latest partnership signed this year.
"With China's rich digital ecosystem we also want to fully mobilize resources to work with the best local partners," Wang added.
The CIIE has served as a catalyst for multinational companies' further development in China. Ascentage Pharma and AstraZeneca entered into clinical collaboration on the registrational phase III study for an investigational treatment for hematologic malignancy, the latest move from the multinational to join with local partners.
The Port of Hamburg is exhibiting at CIIE for the sixth time in a row. As the world's largest rail-port, it plays a central role as a logistics hub for Central and Eastern Europe.
"China has been the most important trading partner of our port for years," said Inga Gurries, head of Market Development Asia of the Port of Hamburg, at the site of CIIE. "We always have a close relation with our Chinese partners and customers."
The CIIE offers an opportunity for closer ties and possibilities of new development. This year, the Port of Hamburg highlights the hinterland transportation at the event. It said more than half of all goods coming from or going to the hinterland are transported by rail, and over 200 freight trains run on Hamburg's tracks every day.
In total, the rail transport companies offer almost 2,000 container train connections every week. This ensures that the goods reach their destination quickly and reliably.
"As the third largest all-purpose port in Europe, we also offer a solution for handling all types of goods, making it particularly attractive for traders," Gurries said.
The Spring Festival Auspicious Dragon is one of the five Spring Festival-themed sets launched by Lego Group at the CIIE on Monday.
Celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year of the Dragon, the LEGO Group has lined up five Spring Festival-themed sets for this CIIE.
Those include the Spring Festival Auspicious Dragon, a Family Reunion Celebration, as well as a festive new year calendar with celebratory elements.
"There might be no better place for us to reveal sets inspired by Chinese culture and traditions than the CIIE," said Paul Huang, senior vice president of the LEGO Group and general manager of LEGO China.
Since the first CIIE in 2018, LEGO has unveiled 24 novelties at the expo, among which 16 sets are from the LEGO Monkie Kid theme and the Chinese Traditional Festival portfolio, all of which received warm market response.
L'Oréal's booth drew a huge crowd at the CIIE.
L'Oréal, also a "full-time" CIIE exhibitor, announced an agreement earlier this year to make a minority investment in Shanghai biotech startup Shinehigh Innovation to co-develop novel and sustainable beauty solutions.
The investment was made through Shanghai Meicifang Investment Co Ltd with the support from the "Business Opportunities for L'Oréal Development," the beauty giant's strategic innovation venture capital fund affiliate.
"The CIIE serves as the bridge between the rest of the world and China," said Fabrice Megarbane, chief executive officer of L'Oréal China and president of the North Asia Zone.
"We fully leverage the platform to get the best of the world to China, and at the same time also show the best of China to the world," he said.
The company has introduced 10 new brands in the past five years through the CIIE.
This year, at the Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Incubation Exhibition special area, six startups from Japan, four from South Korea, and six from France are presenting their offerings to help them better interact with the ecosystem in China.
"I'm a big believer in this market while consumers have shown a more diverse and sophisticated demand for beauty and personal care over the past few years and their mood kept changing," Megarbane said.
Bilateral trade and regional connectivity are also expected to be further boosted through supply chain coalitions.
Singapore's supply chain management and logistics company YCH Group signed a collaboration deal with two local partners Shine-Link International Logistics and New Land-Sea Corridor Operation Co Ltd.
It's expected to combine the two sides' network resources and capabilities to deliver a comprehensive cross-border supply chain solution to Chinese companies, offering advantages for enterprises looking to venture into emerging ASEAN markets by optimizing supply chain operations, reducing costs and enhancing efficiency.
New Land-Sea Corridor Operation Co will also help bolstering connectivity along the Belt and Road Initiative routes, including vital trade routes to and from ASEAN countries.
"These collaborations represent a significant step towards enhancing trade connectivity along the Belt and Road Initiative regions and providing innovative solutions to Chinese companies looking to expand their presence overseas," said Robert Yap, executive chairman of YCH Group.
