Preparations enter high gear for 9th CIIE as first overseas exhibits arrive in Shanghai

Preparations for the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) have entered top gear as the first batch of exhibits arrived in Shanghai on Monday.

The upcoming event, scheduled for November 5 to 10, has drawn broad international participation, bringing together 162 countries, regions, and international organizations alongside more than 4,100 overseas firms. For the enterprise sector, the total exhibition area has surpassed 370,000 square meters.

Spanning categories such as technology, medical equipment, food, and consumer goods, the incoming displays feature a wide array of innovations. Many of these products, including advanced machine tools from Austria and organic bananas from Peru, are set to make their global debuts at the expo.

"This is our ninth consecutive year at the CIIE. We've brought two global debut products - Goodfarmer Organic Bananas from Peru and Magic Star Apples from Netherlands. With the CIIE as our platform, we turn exhibits into products, and products into bestsellers. We expect sales to take off around the Spring Festival," said Zeng Xiaoqing, marketing director of Goodfarmer Fresh Fruit Trading Corp.

Tang Peng, vice general manager of SYR Trading (Shanghai), also highlighted the CIIE as a crucial launchpad for foreign companies in China.

"At the first three CIIEs, we just displayed our products. From the fifth, we became an investor. In 2023, we set up in Ningbo and invested in our first production base in China. With urban renewal in recent years, we've moved from home products to commercial buildings. For a foreign brand like us, the CIIE is a huge platform," he said.

On-site construction is now moving at full speed. Booth structures are set to be largely completed by October 31, with all exhibits placed ahead of the November 3 deadline, according to Zheng Yusheng, general manager of the Operations Center at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai).

To accommodate the surge of attendees, the venue has also upgraded its navigation and operations, installing and updating over 2,600 wayfinding signs to ensure a seamless experience for the opening on November 5.

Preparations enter high gear for 9th CIIE as first overseas exhibits arrive in Shanghai

China's domestic tourism market posted solid growth in terms of both trips and travel spending from January to September this year, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) said on Monday.

More than 5.3 billion domestic trips were made during the first nine months of 2026, up 6.2 percent year on year, data from a survey of domestic travelers conducted by the ministry revealed.

Urban residents accounted for over 4 billion trips, an increase of 6.6 percent from a year earlier, while rural residents made 1.27 billion trips, marking a 5.1-percent rise.

Domestic tourism spending expanded 2.2 percent year on year to 4.95 trillion yuan (about 737 billion U.S. dollars) during these nine months. Of the total, urban residents spent 4.14 trillion yuan, up 2.2 percent, while rural residents spent 810 billion yuan, rising 2.1 percent.

China aims to record 8.3 billion year-round domestic trips and 7.7 trillion yuan in year-round domestic travel spending by 2030, according to a five-year tourism development plan for the 2026-2030 period released by the MCT in July.

In 2025, the country saw more than 6.5 billion domestic trips, with tourism expenditure reaching 6.3 trillion yuan, both setting new records.

China sees steady growth in domestic tourism over first 9 months of 2026