CIIE provides economic boost to hosting area

As the permanent hosting place for the China International Import Expo, Qingpu District has seen a prominent spillover effect from the event on its trade services, industrial transformation, foreign investment promotion and cooperation, and convention and exhibition capacity.

Based on the successful hosting experience of the previous three CIIEs, Qingpu District has certainly grasped the opportunity.

It has turned exhibits into commodities, exhibitors into investors, and purchasers into traders, making significant achievements in amplifying the effects of the CIIE.

So far, Qingpu District has nine 365-day display and trade service platforms recognized by the CIIE Shanghai trading delegation.

As the main beneficiaries of the CIIE in Qingpu, they have significantly lifted Qingpu's trade service level and played an important role in boosting trade, investment and cooperation.

Over the past three expos, the value of intended deals of the Shanghai trading delegation hit US$19.42 billion, topping the nation for three consecutive years.

The Qingpu District trading delegation, as a key member of the Shanghai delegation, has played a key role.

The order value of letters of intent for companies in Qingpu soared 80 percent at last year's CIIE compared with a year earlier.

The first business license and food operation license for an exhibitor at last year's CIIE were issued to a New Zealand-funded company, with the review and approval process taking less than two hours.

The application materials were submitted to the Qingpu District Administration for Market Regulation at 8:30am at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), the CIIE venue, and the license was issued at around 10am thanks to license review and approval reforms by the district's market regulators.

The reforms exempt food businesses, excluding high-risk food companies, from on-the-spot inspections, replacing them with a commitment system. If enterprises commit to certain affairs and submit necessary materials, authorities will issue their licenses first and make inspections afterward.

Traditional procedures can take up to a month before a business license or a food operation license is issued, involving at least two visits to the service center and on-site inspections. The reform cuts licensing review and approval time significantly, opening a green channel for high-quality overseas products to enter the Chinese market, the administration said.

Under the reform, a honey product from New Zealand was turned into a commodity at an exhibit.

More than 20 projects have landed in Qingpu with the help of the expo. A number of projects, such as the Huawei Research and Development Center and NetEase Shanghai International Culture and Innovation Science and Technology Park, started construction in Qingpu before the opening of the third CIIE.

A program about sustainable procurement by the United Nations and international organizations has been launched in Qingpu. The program will facilitate China's businesses' participation in the international public procurement market.

As the first one-stop service and capacity-building center established by the UN China, the program will benefit companies in China, particularly in the Yangtze River Delta region, to participate in procurement for the UN and provide more good resources to the UN, a win-win exchange.

Qingpu District, as an important carrier in Shanghai's establishment of an "international convention and exhibition capital," is in full swing in developing its convention and exhibition industry. It has built "four centers" of import commodities trade, convention and exhibition services, fashion brand consumption, and food display and sales.

The scale and quality of the convention and exhibition service economy keep expanding in the district.

A number of conventions and exhibitions have been introduced into the district, and the West Hongqiao Convention and Exhibition Industry Park has been unveiled in Qingpu.

The Asia Pacific headquarters of Informa is based in Qingpu, and Digital Expo Co Ltd has been established in the west Hongqiao area under the cooperation of the Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai and Alibaba Group.