The National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, the venue hosting the Seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE), on November 4 (XINHUA)
In small Peruvian workshops nestled deep in the Andes Mountains, local families, who have been weaving alpaca wool for generations, make alpaca wool plush toys by hand.
In a research lab of French tire manufacturer Michelin Group, scientists prepare for the launch of a lunar rover tire designed to withstand the moon’s extreme temperature fluctuations of between 100 degrees Celsius and minus 240 degrees Celsius.
At a store in Aoyama, a team of artists from Japanese retailer Muji transform a wide range of vintage items collected from across the world into modern, usable products.
These scenes may seem to be worlds apart. This November, however, these separate worlds were brought together under a single roof at the seventh edition of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), which ran from November 5 to 10.
The CIIE, held annually in a clover-shaped exhibition hall in the western suburbs of Shanghai, is the world’s first national-level import-focused expo. While most trade fairs in China, and around the world, have traditionally focused on helping domestic manufacturers attract foreign customers, the CIIE serves as a platform connecting Chinese buyers to international brands.
First held in 2018, the event was born at a time when global trade protectionism was once again on the rise, and when the United States had just decided to start imposing additional tariffs on Chinese goods.
Launched amid escalating trade conflicts, the CIIE has risen through the years to become a “global trade mecca,” as an article published on the BBC website called it, where global manufacturers, brands and producers gather to feel the pulse of the ever-evolving Chinese market.
Since its inception, more than 2,500 new products and services have made their debut at successive CIIEs. Deals signed during the first six editions of the event were valued at over $420 billion.
This year, the CIIE attracted participants from 152 countries, regions and international organizations, including a large ensemble of first-timers including Norway and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). In all, some 3,500 firms from 129 countries and regions attended the expo. This colossal fleet was headed by 297 Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders, the largest number the event has ever seen.
“As de-globalization, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, it is all the more important that China stays committed to, expands and upgrades its opening up,” Chinese Premier Li Qiang said in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of this year’s event, adding that China advocates and practices multilateralism and firmly upholds multilateral trade system centered on the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“I was glad to hear Premier Li’s remarks on the importance of open trade and the role of the WTO in regulating trade on a global basis. Because, unfortunately, there are too many anti-trade voices in today’s world,” Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), an organization committed to expanding international markets for U.S. soybeans, told Beijing Review.
Having established an office in Beijing in 1982, the USSEC has participated in all seven editions of the CIIE, which has strengthened its role as a key link connecting U.S. farmers to China, the single largest market for U.S. soybeans.
China-U.S. relations can get a little turbulent at times, but agricultural trade is like a ballast that keeps the ship from flipping over, and the CIIE is one of the ways to build a long-term relationship in that, Sutter said.
The E20 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft designed by Chinese Deesaw Technology takes center stage at the 7th CIIE on November 6 (CNSPHOTO)
Parallel growth
Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman of L’Oréal Group, the world’s largest cosmetics company, was one of the many business representatives at this year’s CIIE that carried upon their chests the number seven—a badge of honor for brands that have participated in all seven editions of the event. Even to this day, Agon can still recall a promotional conference in Paris seven years ago, where L’Oréal became the first company in Europe to sign up for the expo’s inaugural edition.
Agon joined L’Oréal in 1978, the year China launched its reform and opening-up agenda. Having sensed the vast potential embedded in this huge untapped market, Agon created L’Oréal China in 1997 by establishing headquarters in Shanghai.
“We started from zero, with only 10 people tucked into one apartment, and now it is the number one beauty brand in China and one of the largest subsidiaries of L’Oréal worldwide,” he said.
Having traveled to China more than 70 times, Agon is a long-time witness of how the country has continued to open up its market to the world, and how the CIIE has greatly facilitated this process.
“China is the only country in the world where it is different every time I come,” he said. “Developing business in China has been a fantastic adventure, and really we have been helped by the authorities through all these years.”
Sixteen years after L’Oréal entered China, the country launched its first pilot free trade zone (FTZ) in Shanghai. Since then, 22 pilot FTZs have been established nationwide to advance innovation in trade and investment facilitation, generating about 20 percent of the total volume of the country’s imports and exports. A few days before the seventh CIIE, China issued a new guideline on further aligning its FTZs and the Hainan Free Trade Port with high-standard international economic and trade rules.
The country has also been committed to fostering a favorable environment for foreign enterprises, The recently released 2024 edition of the national negative list for foreign investment has removed all market access restrictions in the manufacturing sector. The negative list specifies fields that are off-limits to foreign investors.
China firmly supports developing countries in better sharing in the benefits brought about by globalization. This September, China announced it would eliminate tariffs on imports from 43 of the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) starting in December.
During this year’s CIIE, more than 120 exhibition booths were provided to 37 LDCs free of charge, showcasing spices from Ethiopia, tropical fruits produced in Laos and traditional Nepalese tapestry, alongside products from the big multinationals.
All these policies have combined to transform China into the foreign trade powerhouse it is today. According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China, the total value of the country’s foreign trade has grown from 31 trillion yuan ($4.3 trillion) in 2018 to 42 trillion yuan ($5.8 trillion) in 2023, a 37-percent increase.
“There is no other exhibition in the world like the CIIE, which is really a unique proposal from China and a symbol of China’s opening up to the world,” Agon said. “And that’s why we want to promote it as much as we can.”
Deeper integration
Probably one of the most popular booths at CIIE 2024 was that of Theland, a New Zealand dairy company and another seven-year participant in the event. On November 6, Li Jiaqi, China’s most renowned influencer in the beauty sector, hosted a live-streamed show at the company’s booth to launch a series of new products.
“We’ve been steadily growing all the time while we are here,” Roy van den Hurk, the company’s CEO, who also participated in the broadcast, told Beijing Review. “And this year, we are focusing on marketing by leveraging the power of social media to attract new Chinese buyers.”
Starting off as a small exhibitor with just a 50-square-meter booth at CIIE 2018, sales of the brand, then a newcomer to the Chinese market, immediately took off after the participation. The event’s expedited customs clearance policies not only allowed fresh milk to be delivered to Chinese customers within 72 hours, a process that normally takes one week, but have also driven the brand’s expansion into smaller cities and towns in the country’s vast inland. In less than a year, the company’s sales saw a 26-fold increase.
“What the CIIE offers is not one-time gains for a single business or country, but rather an entire system of processes that guarantees benefits for all,” Sheng Wenhao, CEO of Theland Asia Pacific Region, told Beijing Review.
At this year’s CIIE, the company launched its first milk product for seniors, which was its first attempt to tap into the country’s rapidly expanding silver economy.
Theland is just one of many foreign enterprises riding on China’s emerging consumer trends and engaging with the Chinese economy in evermore innovative ways through the CIIE.
“China is not only a huge market but also a great source of inspiration and creativity,” Yann Bozec, President of the Asia-Pacific branch of Tapestry, an American fashion multinational and the parent company of Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzmann, told Beijing Review.
This was the sixth time that Tapestry had participated in the CIIE. At Coach’s booth, alongside some of the brand’s most iconic bags was a collection of accessories created by various young Chinese designers, which showcased a wide spectrum of new trends taking place in China. These projects belong to a program co-founded by the company and the Donghua University in Shanghai, which was created to support the growth of emerging fashion professionals in China.
“We need to understand what young Chinese consumers think is cool or fashionable. And by interacting with people from all sectors of the Chinese society, the CIIE offers an infinite amount of feedback on the innovations we are displaying,” Bozec said.
In the consumer goods exhibition area at the seventh CIIE, exhibitors engage in live-commerce, a combination of livestreaming and e-commerce, on November 6 (CNSPHOTO)
A cyberpunk fiesta
A highlight of this year’s expo was the dazzling collection of hi-tech gadgets from all over the world. Featuring a new area focusing on new materials and a space specifically dedicated to promoting emerging technologies, the seventh CIIE provides a microcosmic view of how new quality productive forces are permeating every aspect of modern life.
A concept first proposed by Chinese President
Xi Jinping in September 2023, new quality productive forces encompass the adoption of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing to enhance productivity, efficiency and competitiveness across various industries.
Among the many industries brought forth in this new development model, semi-conductors, probably one of the hottest themes in today’s tech world, remain a key frontier for deploying advanced productive forces.
Kokusai Electric, a Japanese semiconductor manufacturing company, was one of the first-time participants at this year’s CIIE. According to Xu Ruosong, the company’s Global Vice President and Chairman and President of its Chinese branch, the company’s decision to participate in the event was largely driven by the rapid expansion of Kokusai in the Chinese mainland.
“Five or six years ago, our business in China held a relatively small share of our global networks. However, with the fast-paced development of the Chinese market, we’ve felt a strong need to better promote our brand,” he told Beijing Review, adding that China now accounts for some 40 percent of the brand’s revenue worldwide.
Xu said that the tremendous growth in China’s semiconductor market, a trend projected to continue, is something Kokusai aims to capitalize on.
Another theme that stood out at the seventh CIIE was sustainability. A star of the show was a direct air capture system developed by GE Vernova, an energy equipment manufacturing and services company headquartered in Massachusetts, the U.S. The system, which made its Asia debut at the expo, is designed to capture carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere.
“The CIIE is an important channel for us to access the vast Chinese market and showcase our innovations,” Xu Xin, Chairman of GE Energy Investment (China) and President of GE Vernova Gas Power China Services, told Beijing Review. “It is a platform where the future unfolds before our eyes.”
And that future holds many possibilities. When asked about his expectations for the eighth CIIE, Roy admitted that he was not sure, as every edition of the event, with the continuous rise of new trends, breakthroughs and challenges, was a completely different experience from the previous ones.
All I know is that the world will continue to change, and that the CIIE will keep evolving, he concluded.
Copyedited by G.P. Wilson
Comments to pengjiawei@cicgamericas.com
