All eyes on next year as curtain falls on CIIE

The second China International Import Expo concluded on Sunday with a total of US$71.13 billion in intended deals signed, an increase of 23 percent from the first expo.

The second expo attracted more than 3,800 enterprises as exhibitors from almost every country in the world and over 500,000 buyers came from home and abroad, said Sun Chenghai, deputy director of the expo bureau.

The expo's 360,000 square meters were visited by well over 900,000 people.

Each country had its own distinctive style of pavilion with every stripe of  technology used to display unique regional cultures and advantageous industries, covering every facet of commerce.

The China Pavilion with the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China as the main thread, showed the achievements of the past, balanced by new development concepts focused on quality products and services for which the nation can be justly proud.

In terms of the commercial exhibition, the scale, quality and management of the exhibition crystallized the many lessons learned form the success of the first CIIE. As many as 400 new products, technologies or services made their debuts at the expo.

"The CIIE is becoming the preferred platform for new products and across a wide spectrum of industries," Sun said.

As for buyers, Sun said that "among 500,000 visitors, over 7000 were foreign buyers, far surpassing the first expo.

"Buyers were also more committed this year, with manufacturing firms accounting for 32 percent of domestic buyers while wholesale and retail companies accounted for 25 percent."

Support activities for buyers and sellers abounded, with clear interpretations of policies for both sides of the negotiating table. As for international organizations, the WTO held several events showcasing its latest reports, while the World Intellectual Property Organization lead discussion in combating property rights violation and counterfeiting.

At supply-demand matchmaking fairs from November 6 to 8, 1,400 exhibitors and 3,300 buyers met for one-to-one talks and reached agreements on 2,200 transactions, figures all higher than last year's.

At the opening ceremony on November 5, President Xi Jinping proposed three initiatives for a more open world economy and new measures for China's push toward a higher level of opening-up.

The expo was warmly received by the international community with 126 foreign government delegations attending. French President Emmanuel Macron; Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica; Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis; Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabić; Luigi Di Maio, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Roberto Azevêdo, Director general of the WTO, all addressed the opening ceremony.

As for next year, the exhibition will be divided into four major sections: technology and equipment; consumer goods and smart life; food and agricultural products; and services and health care. 

Trade in services, automobiles, consumer goods, technical equipment, medical equipment and produce will each have their own exhibition areas. 

More than 230 enterprises have already signed up, among them with more than 50,000 square meters of exhibition space already earmarked for Fortune Global 500 enterprises and leading companies across industries.