Preparations for the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) have entered the final stage, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Huang Ling said Thursday in Beijing.
Huang made the remarks at a press conference in response to a question about the upcoming CIIE.
"The 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held in Shanghai from Nov 5 to 10, with the Hongqiao International Economic Forum to be held concurrently. This is an important economic and diplomatic event that follows the fifth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. This week, the first batch of exhibits arrived from overseas and officially entered the venue, marking that preparations for this year's CIIE have entered the final sprint stage," said Huang.
The CIIE welcomed its first batch of exhibits to the venue floors on Tuesday, with booth setup underway.
A total of 162 countries, regions and international organizations will take part, with 4,142 overseas companies exhibiting. Huang said the overall exhibition area for companies will exceed 370,000 square meters.
"More than 480 representative innovative achievements will be unveiled in a concentrated manner, with the number of global debuts, Asian premieres and China premieres reaching a new high, demonstrating China's strong appeal as a global innovation engine. Overseas exhibition organizers have become a new force. This year, more than 90 overseas exhibition delegations will be present, with exhibition area up nearly eight percent year on year," said Huang.
Launched in 2018 as the world's first national-level expo dedicated to imports, the CIIE was designed to expand China's opening-up and turn its vast market into a shared opportunity for the world.
Preparations for 9th CIIE enter final stage: spokeswoman
