SFC Markets and Finance | The 7th CIIE Opens in Shanghai, Promoting the High-Level Opening Up

南方财经全媒体记者杨雨莱、见习记者梁旭琦 广州报道

The 7th CIIE Opens in Shanghai  

From Nov 5 to 10, the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE), the world's first national-level exposition dedicated to imports, officially kicked off in Shanghai. Let’s hear from the SFC correspondent Jiao Yifei’s report on the spot. 

Jiao Yifei: I'm standing at the Media Center of the China International Import Expo (CIIE). This morning, the 7th session of CIIE has officially opened. This year, a record-high number of 297 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders, as well as nearly 800 procurement groups from various countries are participating in the Expo.

During the opening ceremony, the Chinese government signalled its commitment to further opening up to the outside world. China has made it clear that it will implement more unilateral opening-up measures, further broaden market access, and promote orderly expansion of openness in sectors such as telecommunications, education, culture, and healthcare. Over the next six days, my colleagues and I will cover the Hongqiao International Economic Forum and a series of newly launched products, technologies, and services. Stay tuned for more updates. 

China Continues to Promote the High-Level Opening Up

China has continued to walk the talk in expanding opening up. The 7th CIIE has attracted about 3,500 exhibitors from 129 countries and regions. What is the attractiveness of CIIE? What opportunities do companies participating in CIIE see in the Chinese market under the high level of opening up? SFC reporter made more conversations with foreign entrepreneurs on the scene.

Anuruddha Rathninde from Johnson Controls: We're looking forward to, as China's economy is growing, we want to make sure that we are aligned with the new policies. At the same time, we promote our products, technologies, and solutions to our customers and partners. That's what I'm looking forward to.

I think every year we sign multiple agreements with our customers, and we generate a lot of leads and we follow up and we demonstrate our commitment. So I think that's more critical. Last year, we had the honor of hosting the Prime Minister in our booth,  and this year, we also have multiple government leaders, other institutes, academies, and customers scheduled to visit. I'm very excited to see them and continue to develop and foster these relationships.

We have over 50 branches in China, about ten manufacturing plants, and three R&D centers. We cover the full geography of China. A company like Johnson Controls has been in China for a long time,  so we've gone through this whole process. We've built great relationships with local governments because we're relevant to the government agenda, we're relevant to the public, and we're relevant to our customers, and we continue to do so.

Jerry Felton from Melaleuca (China) Wellness Products Co., Ltd.: The CIIE is an outstanding platform where every time we come, we learn more about the Chinese consumer, what's happening in the marketplace, and how we can better serve our Chinese consumers.

Every time we come, we leave with greater confidence in China, market, as well as our business, but also innovation and what trends are happening that we can capture. Also at this year's plenary, we're going to be executing on several strategic partnership agreements for over 1 billion RMB that will help support our product line here in China.

China is a great place to invest in the open market, in the open system. Last night, I had the opportunity to sit with a very small group of CEOs, Premier Li, and several state officials, listening to Premier Li talk about his confidence in the future, and the economic engine here in China that gives us great confidence. So I think it's a great place to invest and build a market here in China.

Chinese business climate is growing and it's expanding, and it's become running higher tech and more innovative internally in China. And partnering with companies, Chinese companies and Chinese partners, especially in our R&D departments, working through product development, that will help our business grow. Those are things that we're really excited about.And that's developing here in China right now, very high speeds.

Roy Van Den Hurk from Milk New Zealand Dairy Limited: We started off as quite a small company in 2019 and we've actually grown with the expo. So we've taken the opportunity with the open policy and with the transition facilities that have occurred in different years. We try to launch a new product every year and we try to make it more premium and greener. We're doing the same this year

and we've managed to grow all the time. We think they are doing a new product here, so we try to convert those special things into everyday commodities within China. So we've been successful most years.

If I look at the long-term trend from when we started, we've definitely been on an increase. We're trying to improve our marketing now. It's getting our brand more exposure. And I'm confident that will grow the product even more.

I think it's very important for the world and I think it's very important for China. I was at the symposium last night listening to Premier Li talking about the opening up. I was very optimistic about his (statements), and encouraged by his statements and looking at what China is trying to do. And they're doing it in a controlled manner. So it's really quite good. I think it's great for the world. It’s great for China.

International Journalists' Focus on the Expo

Apart from the entrepreneurs, journalists from all over the world are present at the conference site. What are some of the novel and unique perspectives they have for the 7th CIIE? Let's continue to watch the interviews from SFC reporter on the front line.

Zerbetto Rafael: I always feel happy when I'm here. It's a good environment, with many things happening. It’s stimulating. The CIIE is a consequence of the further opening up of China. It was created specifically with the purpose of boosting trade relations between China and other countries, and not only trade, but together with it, it boosts other aspects of the development of relations between China and the world. For example, you visit the national pavilions here, and you see many countries taking the chance to show tourist attractions or learn about the culture of other countries. So it's a very interesting way to promote exchanges between different societies and build a community of shared future together.

The Brazilian state, Mato Grosso, decided to have their own booth in CIIE to promote their typical products. So I can see that more and more Brazilians are feeling interested as well. People from business circles in Brazil, I know that CEOs of Brazilian companies are coming for CIIE. There are many Brazilian businessmen here looking for trading opportunities. CIIE is really playing an important role in boosting the trade between China and Brazil.

I am focused, from one side. I wanna check the experience from people working here from different editions, those who have been showing the products or something of a company through different CIIE, how they view the situation, what they have to say about the evolution of the event, and how the impact of CIIE was on their businesses. 

Anna Rosario M.Uy: So it was a grand ceremony. I think the message is clear that China is the largest trading partner of many countries. China is helping many countries when it comes to having a space or a venue by which they can showcase their products here in this Expo at this time. So it's not just an expo for economics or trade. It's also a venue, a platform by which people gather and make exchanges. It develops some kind of mutual understanding and people-to-people ties. So this is not just an economic thing. This is, I think, more than that.

When it comes to topics, I'm very much interested in agriculture, artificial intelligence, information technology, and also green technology, because I believe China is leading the green transition and fighting against global climate change, with objectives that by 2060 and 2030, it will achieve carbon neutrality. So I think these are important topics that I'm very interested in. And I think it's not only me that’s interested; other people from different countries are very much interested in these different issues.

The World Openness Report 2024 Published

On Nov 5, The World Openness Report 2024 was officially published on the Hongqiao International Economic Forum as a significant part of the CIIE. The report firmly sends out strong voices of China on opening up. Michele Geraci, the Former Undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development expressed his viewpoints on the report.

Michele Geraci: For the World Openness Report 2024, I think it is making the quality of development. I think this is one of the key words of this report that is not just (about) development per se but also the benefits to the individuals, such as the individual companies and individual citizens. Otherwise we just have the idea of development on the macro level and we do not translate (it) in people's real life. So that's why it is on the people exchanges and the openness. For example, China has done also visa-free for many countries. So there are initiatives not just about buying goods, it's about inviting people.That's why I said the one of the key words is open and welcoming. It also talks about the Belt and Road Initiative and the six corridors that we discussed.

And I do think it's a surprise for many Western countries to see an openness report to be published by China. The G7 countries are becoming protectionist. While the Global South, the Belt and Road countries, the BRICKS are opening up. So I think this is the key importance of the report showing a shift in the role of G7 versus Global South. The Global South now is leading the opening (up) of the world which is very interesting and that would be the trend for the next several years. The openness is not just of China. We find the same openness report for each of the other 165 countries in the world.

策划：于晓娜

监制：施诗

编辑：李依农

记者：施诗 缴翼飞 李依农 杨雨莱 见习记者梁旭琦

制作：蔡于恬 李群

新媒体统筹：丁青云 曾婷芳 赖禧 黄达迅

海外运营监制: 黄燕淑

海外运营内容统筹: 黄子豪 

海外运营编辑：庄欢 吴婉婕 龙李华 张伟韬

出品：南方财经全媒体集团