Under the theme of "New Era, Shared Future," the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) kicked off in Shanghai on November 5.
In his letter to the 6th CIIE, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the annual expo has leveraged the strengths of China's enormous market, fulfilled its platform function for international procurement, investment promotion, people-to-people exchanges and open cooperation, and made positive contributions to creating a new development pattern and promoting world economic development.
For the first time since COVID-19, all CIIE events are once again being held physically. A total of 289 Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders are taking part in this year's expo.
"The CIIE sends a clear signal to the world, that is, China's open door will continue to widen," Jean-Christophe Pointeau, president of Pfizer China, told Science and Technology Daily (S&T Daily), adding that Pfizer has witnessed the rapid development of the Chinese market, and no multinational company is willing to give up the opportunities in the Chinese market.
Thanks to the CIIE, more and more foreign companies can tap the vast Chinese market made available by China's high-level opening up.
"The CIIE is a unique platform for Zeiss to engage with all stakeholders including customers, researchers, and policymakers," Zhang Yuxin, vice president of Zeiss Greater China, told S&T Daily, adding that Zeiss has been in the Chinese market for decades, and is committed to growing with China.
"Over the past six years, the CIIE has evolved into a key platform for enhancing global trade and a driver of win-win cooperation opportunities," said Jakob Stausholm, Rio Tinto's chief executive. He told S&T Daily that Rio Tinto is actively utilizing this platform to drive high-level and professional dialogues, and explore new opportunities.
"The CIIE is not only a platform to showcase our cutting-edge technologies, but also to build bridges with companies in China," Lorenzo Simonelli, chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes, told S&T Daily.
"The CIIE has helped us increase our visibility in China and strengthen our cooperative relations with partners," Dauter Oliveira, Vale's Asian development director, said to S&T Daily, adding that China's opening up also helps accelerate the spread of technology and knowledge, enhancing the innovation and competitiveness of multinational companies.
"We have already reached many agreements with our partners at this year's expo," said Xu Yang, president of Danfoss China, adding that China is Danfoss's key growth market and China's green transition connotes huge opportunity for the future development of Danfoss.
"CIIE is a window for us, through which we can see our future development and investment trend," Hao Jinyu, managing director of SGS China, told S&T Daily, adding that SGS's Zhoushan labs are born out of the meeting at the expo.