Industry News

In the golden autumn season, the Huangpu River welcomes the "Promise of the East" once again. The 9th China International Import Expo opened in Shanghai on November 5th. Nine years into the PhD, as promised every year. The story of openness, innovation, and sharing is once again unfolding in the "Four Leaf Clover".

 

Embrace the world with openness

 

Openness is an innate gene of the CIIE. This year's CIIE has a brighter background color.

 

This year's national exhibition attracted 69 countries and international organizations to participate, with a larger number of participants than the previous edition. Canada and Sri Lanka served as guest countries, while five countries including Moldova and Romania and the United Nations Development Programme participated in the exhibition for the first time.

 

In the corporate exhibition, countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France lead in terms of exhibition area. American companies have an exhibition area of over 50000 square meters, while Canadian and New Zealand companies have the largest exhibition area in history. Australian companies have expanded their exhibition area by 25% compared to last year.

 

Chen Min, General Manager of Bangji Company in China, stated that the CIIE is an important platform for communication, cooperation, and showcasing innovation, as well as a window for China to expand its high-level opening-up to the outside world. In recent years, China has continuously optimized its business environment and steadily expanded its institutional opening-up, providing more convenience for enterprises such as Bangji to efficiently connect global agricultural resources with Chinese market demand, and work together with customers and partners to promote industrial upgrading. We have always supported expanding openness and free trade, and are pleased to see China promote high-quality development with high-level openness

 

All parties are full of expectations for the opportunities of China's opening up and continue to be optimistic about the Chinese market. The cumulative intention transactions of the first eight CIIE have exceeded 580 billion US dollars, attracting 27000 exhibitors from about 180 countries and regions. Enterprises from various countries harvest orders, expand markets, and continuously deepen their presence in China here. The holding hands in the exhibition hall gradually settle into roots outside the hall.

 

Thai Tencel Group made its debut in the agricultural and food products exhibition area, showcasing its innovative achievements in serving the upgrading of Chinese consumption and its long-term investment practices in China. The CIIE is a key platform for China to promote high-level opening up, and also a core link for multinational enterprises to gain insights into the Chinese market and deepen practical cooperation. It has created a 'strategic channel' for foreign enterprises, including Tiansi Group, to invest in China, "said Xu Xinxiong, CEO of Tiansi Group." We deeply feel China's firm determination to expand institutional opening up and continuously optimize the business environment, which further injects stable expectations into the development of foreign-funded enterprises in China

 

Relying on the open cooperation platform of the China International Import Expo, many enterprises continue to participate in exhibitions and increase their investment in China, expressing their confidence in deeply cultivating China through practical actions. From January to September this year, more than 6300 foreign-funded enterprises increased their investment in China. The dividends of China's super large market are truly transforming into development opportunities for global enterprises.

 

Novartis has participated in nine consecutive CIIE events and has signed a contract to participate in the tenth one. This year, the company announced a new round of investment plans in China, further improving its strategic layout of research and development, production, and operation in China. Li Yao, President and Managing Director of Novartis China, stated that the CIIE is a window open to the world, allowing the world to share China's open opportunities. Novartis has long been optimistic about the vast prospects of the Chinese market and will leverage the CIIE as an open platform for cooperation to bring cutting-edge global innovation achievements to China.

 

Leading the future with innovation

 

The "debut" and "innovation" of this year's CIIE are full of color. For the first time, the number of Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders has exceeded 300, and there are over 480 representative exhibits that have made their global debut, Asian debut, and Chinese debut, setting a new record in history.

 

The novelty of the exhibits reflects the changes in the innovative layout of multinational enterprises. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, by 2025, the actual use of foreign investment in China's scientific research and technology services will account for nearly one-fifth of the total actual use of foreign investment in the country, with the proportion increasing for seven consecutive years. From introducing innovative achievements to collaborating on research and development, China's role in the global innovation system of multinational corporations is increasingly prominent.

 

Novo Nordisk brings 17 innovative drugs, of which 6 are showcased for the first time in China and even globally. In 2019, the company launched the "China Tongchuang" project to promote the synchronous research and development, approval, and listing of innovative drugs in China and globally. We have witnessed the continuous optimization of China's policy environment to support pharmaceutical innovation, and have also participated in the development process of innovative achievements from 'imported' to 'usable', from 'entering medical insurance' to 'entering the grassroots', "said Cai Yan, Senior Vice President of Novo Global." In the future, we will continue to root in China and accelerate the benefits of more innovative achievements to patients

 

The deepening of innovation cooperation promotes the upgrading of multinational enterprises' R&D systems in China. Sanofi, which has participated in the CIIE for 9 consecutive years, collaborates with its four major research and development centers in China to form an integrated R&D engine. In the past, we thought about how to 'innovate for China', but now we are thinking about how to 'co create with China', so that innovation originating from China can go global, "said Ge Lihe, CEO of Sanofi.

 

Multinational corporations choosing to innovate in China not only value research and development and industrial support, but also value rich application scenarios and rapidly iterating market demand. At this year's CIIE, Louis Dreyfus will showcase a series of innovative products in the field of animal nutrition, many of which are developed by its global research and development center located in Shanghai.

 

Louis Dreyfus Group CEO Gao Qi stated that China is an important research and development base for the group, which is close to the needs of the Chinese market and helps enterprises verify innovative concepts, and develop solutions that meet market needs and have the potential for large-scale promotion more quickly. Our goal is to innovate in China, validate in the Chinese market, and bring the most valuable solutions to Chinese and even global customers, "said Gao Qi.

 

From the debut and exhibition of global cutting-edge products, to the joint research and development of Chinese and foreign enterprises, and to the globalization of Chinese innovation achievements, the CIIE witnesses the deep integration of China and the global innovation network, and also builds a broad platform for global open innovation.

 

To share and unite forces

 

Promoting deepening cooperation and sharing opportunities among all parties is an important value of the CIIE. This year's CIIE will hold special events for guest countries, EU medical device trade, and Asian African agricultural and food products, building bridges for expanding cooperation among all parties. The Innovation Incubation Zone will hold about 20 roadshows and exchange negotiations to promote the landing and transformation of overseas innovation projects.

 

Chinese and foreign enterprises leverage the CIIE to deepen their complementary advantages and explore new cooperation spaces together. This year, Medtronic has set up a cooperative innovation exhibition area, inviting four local partners to participate in the exhibition and bring the collaborative innovation achievements of Chinese and foreign enterprises to the CIIE site. Looking to the future, we look forward to working together with more Chinese clinical experts, industry partners, and innovative enterprises to fully leverage the synergies between global resources and local advantages, accelerate the transformation of clinically valuable innovative achievements, and enable innovation to cross regional boundaries and benefit more patients in China and even the world, "said Gu Yushao, Senior Vice President and President of Greater China at Medtronic

 

Chinese enterprises expand global cooperation through the CIIE, introduce advanced equipment and technical services, and enhance the level of industrial and supply chains. As a leading enterprise in the global energy, electricity, water conservancy and other infrastructure fields, China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd. has participated in the CIIE for 9 consecutive years, with a cumulative intended purchase amount of nearly 14 billion US dollars. This year, companies under China Energy Construction will sign equipment service procurement agreements with companies from Germany, Italy, the United States, and other countries.

 

The CIIE is an important window for connecting domestic and international markets, and a globally shared international public good, "said Ni Zhen, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Energy Engineering Corporation. The gas turbine equipment purchased from Siemens in Germany at this CIIE will be used in the Abu Dhabi Tevila C gas turbine power plant project in the United Arab Emirates. China Energy Engineering Corporation will rely on the CIIE to continuously deepen global cooperation, transform procurement results into project construction effectiveness, and inject momentum into global green development.

 

The cooperation space continues to expand, and the opportunities for sharing continue to expand. Through the CIIE, more developing countries and least developed countries can connect with the Chinese market, allowing specialty products to find new sales channels. The free booth area provided for the least developed countries at this year's CIIE has increased by 17%, and the exhibition area of African enterprises has steadily increased, helping African countries with diplomatic relations to seize the opportunity of zero tariffs on China. The Ivory Coast delegation will showcase products such as cocoa, cashews, and kola nuts, while Kenya will focus on showcasing high value-added agricultural products such as coffee and avocados. Each unique exhibit carries the expectations of enterprises from various countries to explore the market, and also connects more opportunities for shared development.

 

From the joint innovation of domestic and foreign enterprises, to the cooperation achievements supporting global green development, and to the integration of more developing countries into global trade, the CIIE continues to expand the breadth and depth of open cooperation, allowing the mutually beneficial and win-win results to benefit more countries and people. (Economic Daily reporter Yuan Yong and Wang Yiyi)

 

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