Meeting discusses CIIE's spillover effect

Shanghai held a symposium on Thursday inviting authorities and chambers of commerce from six provinces to discuss further cooperation to boost the "spillover" effect of the China International Import Expo.

The meeting was organized by the Shanghai government and the Orient International Group, with representatives from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi and Shandong provinces and around 30 cities attending.

The first symposium last year, with representatives from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, saw the establishment of the East China Importers Cooperation Alliance.

"This year, China's economic growth is facing the impact of both trade protectionism and the COVID-19 epidemic. The direction of our economic development has undergone and will continue to undergo major changes," said Zhu Jidong, chairman of the alliance and vice president of Orient International Group.

"The CIIE is an important step in the process of gradually forming this new development pattern, thus we should make joint efforts to seek proper ways to grasp the opportunities of the expo, boosting further economic growth in view of the normalization of epidemic prevention and control," Zhu said.

Zhang Lei, deputy secretary-general of the alliance and director of Orient International’s CIIE promotion office, said regular large-scale events supporting the CIIE would be held, as well as seminars on cooperation and exchanges between the Shanghai offices of east China provinces and on integrated development of Yangtze River Delta, which will help expand domestic sales channels for imported goods.