Six CIIE keywords showcase China’s market potential

SHANGHAI — From a humanoid robot to a virtual reality mining experience, visitors were dazzled by a variety of new products, technologies and services on display at the China Import Expo, a platform for the country to share its development opportunities with the rest of the world.

The fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE), which ended in Shanghai on Thursday, saw $73.5 billion in tentative deals reached for one-year purchases of goods and services, up up 3.9 percent from a year ago, Sun Chenghai, deputy director of the CIIE Office, said at a press conference.

Here are six CIIE keywords that offer insight into China’s market prospects and exhibitors’ enthusiasm for tapping into China’s huge market.

High level opening

Exhibitions turn into commodities, exhibitors turn into investors, newbies turn into regular attendees – the CIIE has seen many transformations since its inauguration in 2018, reflecting China’s steady progress towards a higher-level open economy. .

“The CIIE is the ideal platform for collaboration. I believe there is no other in the world that is able to bring together so many representatives of industries and countries and have this dialogue which allows us to look at the opportunities,” said Fabrice Megarbane, L’Oreal North Asia Zone President and CEO of L’Oréal China.

Besides promoting the free movement of goods and factors, China has intensified its efforts to pursue its institutional opening-up. The country continued to shorten the negative list for foreign investment, passed laws and regulations including the Foreign Investment Law, and set up pilot free trade zones (FTZs).

In a recently released openness index, which assessed the openness levels of 129 economies from 2008 to 2020, China’s openness index rose from 0.7107 in 2012 to 0.7507 in 2020, up 5.6%, and its ranking rose from 47th to 39th place.

High quality development

The fifth CIIE attracted 145 countries, regions and international organizations, more than 2,800 enterprises to the trade exhibition area, and launched 438 new products, technologies and services.

What has prompted global businesses to gather at the CIIE is the vast opportunities offered by China with its high-quality development momentum.

During the period 2013-2021, China’s average contribution to global economic growth exceeded 30 percent, ranking first in the world, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics in September.

As the first multinational healthcare company to set up shop in the Lingang New Area of ​​the Shanghai Pilot Free Zone, Novo Nordisk announced plans to invest 400 million yuan ($55.63 million) on November 6. in the creation of a holding company in the region.

Novo Nordisk hoped to seize the opportunities of China’s high-quality development to improve the layout of the entire industrial chain, said Zhou Xiaoping, global senior vice president and China region president of Novo Nordisk.

Envisioning better prospects for the future, foreign companies express a vote of confidence with stocks. Over 100,000 square meters of exhibition space for the upcoming CIIE has already been reserved.

benefit sharing

China has held several major expos this year, including the CIIE, the China International Trade Fair for Services, and the China International Consumer Products Expo, to honor its commitments to transform the country’s vast market into a enormous opportunities for the world.

Each edition of the CIIE has seen the participation of more than 100 countries, regions and international organizations, including developed countries, developing countries and some least developed countries. The CIIE has especially invited small and medium enterprises from dozens of least developed countries to participate in the expo.

Afghan exhibitor Ali Azghar Faiz believes the CIIE is a useful platform for countries like Afghanistan.

He said that with the help of the CIIE, he is able to not only introduce Afghan products into China, but also promote them in many other countries, which would be a support to the Afghan people.

Always expanding its “circle of friends”, China will continue to implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and advance its adherence to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Agreement on the digital economy.

Dual carbon

Since China announced in 2020 its goals of striving to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, the country has aligned its strength with the pro-green and low-carbon efforts to accelerate the pursuit of its carbon targets.

Seeing visible green progress, companies in various industries including traditional energy, construction, apparel, food and new materials have all incorporated the low-carbon vision into their products and services showcased at the exhibition.

New Zealand dairy brand Theland, for example, exhibited its “carbon neutral milk”, which featured a complete low-carbon industrial chain.

“We want to contribute to China’s ‘dual carbon’ goals,” said Sheng Wenhao, CEO of Theland Asia Pacific Region.

A report by French bank Societe Generale estimated that to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, China’s green investments need to reach 2.2 trillion yuan per year in the current decade, and this amount will increase to 3 900 billion yuan between 2031 and 2060.

Innovation

Whether it’s a virtual reality mining experience, remote driving of a 5G excavator, or personalized scent recommendations using brainwave scanning devices, various gadgets from high technology reflect an innovation-driven industry upgrade in China.

“China is the world leader in digital supply chain management and digital enforcement of consumption and lifestyle. This is not only the foundation of China’s economic resilience, but also the reason why global businesses are flocking to China,” said Michael Bi, EY Greater Managing Partner for China Markets.

The country’s digital economy reached $7.1 trillion in 2021. It accounts for more than 18% of the amount of the top 47 countries included, ranking second after the United States, according to a white paper released by the Chinese Academy. information and communication technologies.

Health

The size of China’s healthcare industry is expected to reach 16 trillion yuan by 2030, according to a “Healthy China 2030” plan released by the Chinese government.

To meet the increasing fitness and sports demands of Chinese people, Decathlon, one of the world’s leading sporting goods retailers, has launched a multi-functional rowing machine, which combines the features of furniture and fitness equipment. fitness.

“Chinese people pursue a higher standard of living, which includes the voluntary promotion of sports awareness and the improvement of sports consumption,” said Pascal Bizard, senior vice president of Decathlon China.

The company believes China’s sports industry, a trillion-dollar industry, will continue to unleash dividends and market opportunities, according to Bizard.