CIIE opens doors for APEC businesses to China, beyond

Hundreds of exhibitors from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies at the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai have hailed China as far more than a vast market, describing it as a gateway to the wider Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

The timing gives that message particular resonance, with the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen preparing to host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in a matter of days.

For its part, the CIIE has offered a living preview of the priorities APEC champions, among them openness, innovation and cooperation, as companies from across the region pursue deals and partnerships on its exhibition floor, where opportunity has emerged as the prevailing theme.

"CIIE offers Indonesian businesses more than just a place to display their products. It gives them an opportunity to meet potential buyers, find local distributors, build business partnerships, and better understand what Chinese consumers want," said Angga Handian Putra, director, Indonesia Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) Shanghai.

Many longtime participants see the same spirit as a sustained commitment written into China's policy agenda.

"I think what China's been doing over the last few years, and [which] is also carrying on into their next Five-Year Plan is that they've got that openness and are trying to get cooperation and win-win partnerships with countries around the world and businesses around the world," said Roy Van Den Hurk, CEO of Milk New Zealand Dairy Limited.

The benefits, however, are not confined to China's borders, as business connections forged in Shanghai frequently travel far beyond them.

"More importantly, the opportunities do not stop in China. Business connections made at CIIE can open doors to other markets across the Asia-Pacific region. Ultimately, CIIE helps Indonesian businesses grow from simply selling products overseas to building strong brands and long-term business relationships," Angga Handian Putra said.

Shenzhen will host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting later this month under the theme of 'Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together,' with the preceding CEO Summit on Nov. 17-18 set to carry conversations first heard on the CIIE floor into the summit's halls.

CIIE opens doors for APEC businesses to China, beyond

China is making significant strides in building a strong parallel energy system that balances continued reliance on fossil-based and nuclear power with the rapid expansion of renewable sources, as part of broader efforts to advance a green transition with the help of digital technology, said a World Economic Forum (WEF) official.

During a visit to the northern Chinese city of Ordos, Jorgen Sandstrom, head of Transforming Industrial Ecosystems at the WEF, said the dual-track approach has brought China closer to its ambitions of optimizing the energy structure and steering emissions-intensive industries and cities away from their dependence on traditional energy sources.

"I think China is well underway with creating a very strong [set of] parallel tracks, which is, you still rely on fossil-based energy, on nuclear-based energy, but then now, you're building up very rapidly a very strong renewable energy [sector], which is able to eventually maybe overtake the fossil-based [energy], but also greatly support the development, such as decarbonizing industries or decarbonizing cities, really lower the emissions in those areas of the economy where you have the most emissions today, which is energy-intensive, heavy industry. It is certain [forms of] transport like trucking and shipping and so on. And then of course, we have our cities where you'll use a lot of energy today," he said.

Looking further ahead, Sandstrom saw particular promise in the way renewable power could be paired with China's strengths in digital technology to improve the environmental sustainability of its industries and cities.

"If you can manage to integrate strong renewable energy sources together with digital systems that can really help you predict the energy needs both on the supply and the demand side, and then integrate it into both industry and cities, I think this is a very, very promising evolution here in China," he said.

China’s dual track energy strategy holds great promise: WEF official