To support the China International Import Expo (CIIE), Chinese customs has further streamlined the clearance process for exhibitors' plants and animal products.
In preparation for the CIIE, Shanghai Customs has set up special channels for exhibitors, and adopted a fully paperless process. Exhibitors can submit applications online and receive their entrance approvals within 48 hours.
"We have opened special-purpose channels for imports, providing 24 hours by 7 days inspection booking services. At the inspection site, we have also set up special channels for CIIE goods to ensure that the exhibits can be inspected and approved right upon arrival," said Zhang Shujun, section head of the Goods Control Bureau of Shanghai Pudong Airport Customs under Shanghai Customs.
Now the first batch of avocados from Australia, which is yet to acquire China's quarantine access, has already entered Shanghai and is ready to for exhibition, thanks to the CIIE special permission policy.
The General Administration of Customs (GAC) rolled out a policy last year to grant special permission for CIIE exhibits, which allows plant and animal products without quarantine access from non-epidemic areas to enter the Chinese border for exhibition in the prerequisites that the assessment has confirmed that the risks are controllable. To further streamline the customs clearance procedure, the GAC authorized Shanghai Customs to handle the permissions directly this year.
"In the past, animal and plant products without quarantine access could not enter China. The special permission policy now allows these exhibits to appear at the CIIE. This year, we have stepped up the policy support, and reduced the scope of products required for special permissions. Previously such permissions could only be granted by the General Administration of Customs, but this year, authorized by the GAC, they could be acquired from the Shanghai Customs. This has further shortened the approval process and improved the efficiency," said Cui Jinlu, section head of the Shanghai Customs Animal and Plant Quarantine Bureau.
Customs streamline clearance process for CIIE
The latest artificial intelligence breakthroughs are dominating the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, with a number of firms showcasing how AI can be deployed to play a critical role in healthcare and even in the once futuristic notion of creating digital clones.
The four-day show, considered the world's premier annual technology event, is set to conclude Friday after attracting over 4,500 exhibitors from more than 155 countries and regions, according to organizers.
While many attendees are sampling the latest tech devices and gadgets on display, the event is also showcasing the big and bold ideas of a number of companies who are seeking to harness AI's potential for even greater causes.
A number of companies and entrepreneurs are using AI-powered software in the hope of improving healthcare and even extending our lives. One of the standout examples is 'Predictive AI', a Korean-founded medical startup focused on disease prevention through advanced genetic analysis.
Predictive AI is building digital twins of the human genome, which sees virtual replicas of some 20,000 genes and three billion DNA sequences. These are designed to predict diseases, flag risky prescriptions and even act as a patient's proxy during consultations.
Co-founded by twin brothers Sijung and Sajung Yun, both academics at Johns Hopkins University, their advanced software, named 'Dr. Twin', uses a supervising AI agent to coordinate multiple specialized systems to assess people's health.
By simply sending them a fingernail clipping, their company can extract a client's DNA and combine it with their health history. The software then makes predictions on more than 20,000 diseases - including everything from cancer to Alzheimer's - and then allows users to ask questions about their results.
"[We had to] be proactive for it. And then we provide the customized nutrition for it. We provide the customized recommendation for your pharmacogenomics, which is which drug you better take. So that's kind of the actionable things that you can do after these testing. For those who are afraid of [receiving] a result, the results can go to the their primary physician," said Sijung Yun.
His twin Sajung explained the predictive philosophy which lies behind the technology.
"The reason we are predictive is that when you want to prevent everything, you are not preventing anything. So you need to predict the high risk, and you need to watch out for those symptoms and then catch it early. With the genetic profiling and the AI doctor's algorithm we developed, we are enabling to do so," he said.
Beyond healthcare, AI is being showcased in many other novel and sometimes surprising ways, including a potentially groundbreaking concept which uses archived video and biographical information of users to then create and render themselves into AI clones.
Dubbed 'MyPersonas' and developed by software company IgniteTech, the platform generates an AI duplicate which draws specifically on the knowledge and experience of its human counterpart.
"The 'MyPersona' is grounded in your knowledge, and we've gone to great lengths with patent-pending technology to make certain that it doesn't attempt to answer something that you don't know," said Eric Vaughan, CEO of IgniteTech.
The AI clones are expected to be deployed in a wide range of scenarios — from customer service operations and education to the even more personal endeavor of preserving family histories, with memories and stories able to 'live on' in a virtual world for generations to come.
"I can't think of where it can't be used. It could be used by a one-man insurance company to answer questions about policies. It could be used by a teacher at a school about homework assignments. Could you show grandma and grandpa to future generations live and then actually have them interact and ask questions and share memories and tell stories in a way that makes them come alive?" said Vaughan.
With innovations like these on display, CES 2026 highlights how AI is not only reshaping technology — but redefining how humans understand health, memory, and legacy in both the physical and virtual worlds.
Futuristic potential of AI applications highlighted at top tech show in Las Vegas
