From new faces to old friends, global investors are once again heading to China for the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade, or CIFIT, which runs from Tuesday to Friday in Xiamen City in east China's Fujian Province.
The message from the exhibition floor is clear: confidence in the Chinese market is holding firm, and the pull of "Invest in China" is growing stronger.
This year's fair has drawn business and government delegations from 129 countries and regions with 48 of the world's top 50 economies represented.
For many attendees, the trip to southeastern China is not just about deals, but about staying close to the world's second-largest economy as it shifts toward innovation-led growth.
"In the US, in Silicon Valley, earlier this year, people were telling me 'you have to go to China, to south China, to Shenzhen also,'" said Michael Klimke, a CIFIT participant.
That sentiment is echoed by companies looking to expand beyond China's coastal hubs.
"Expanding in other areas of China. We are planning to expand in two more provinces, so to open facilities in two more provinces," said a representative from the Italian food distributor Madia SpA.
Behind the enthusiasm is China's rapidly maturing ecosystem for new quality productive forces, from artificial intelligence and renewable energy to high-end manufacturing.
"We have special criteria for companies to be called world market leaders or hidden champions. And my aim is that we will have the chance till next year, for instance, to take the same criteria for Chinese companies, and then we will have the chance to cooperate with the Chinese and European hidden champions," said Walter Doring, chairman of the Academy of German Hidden Champions.
European regions are also deepening their China agendas. Economic officials from the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate said the focus is on next-generation industries.
"We want to meet Chinese partners and international partners for certain technological fields, for example, biotechnology, renewable energies and artificial intelligence," said Joe Weingarten, head of the Department of Foreign Trade, SME Development and Green Economy at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Tourism, Energy and Climate of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Global investors flock to Xiamen as CIFIT opens
