The second China International Import Expo (CIIE), to be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai from November 5 to 10, will have more participants and an expanded exhibition area at 300,000 square meters, 30,000 sq m larger than last year’s event. So far, 61 countries have confirmed their participation in a 30,000 sq m national pavilions area, including 15 honorary guest countries that include France and Italy, Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Bingnan said at a press conference to mark the start of the 100-day countdown. More than 3,000 enterprises from over 150 countries and regions have confirmed they will take part.

More than 250 of them are Global Fortune 500 companies and leaders in various industries. There will be seven exhibition areas focusing on five major fields — equipment, everyday items, food, health care and services. The seven sections will be sci-tech life, automobiles, equipment, medical equipment and health care products, quality of life, trade in services, and food and agricultural products. First-time exhibitors will include GlaxoSmithKline and Siemens, showing their latest products for the Chinese market.

Last year, more than 170 American companies took up more than 36,000 sq m of exhibition space, according to Ren Hongbin, Assistant Minister of Commerce and Deputy Director of the CIIE’s organizing Committee. This year there will be even more U.S. companies and a 35% increase in their exhibition space, as reported by the Shanghai Daily.

“The purpose of holding the CIIE is not simply to increase imports, but to focus more on optimizing the import structure and giving companies access to more advanced technologies and ideas, while maintaining stable growth in exports,” said Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Bingnan.