Chinese firms signed import deals worth more than USD57.8 billion during the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, according to official data. The import deals agreed during the event included USD16.5 billion in the smart manufacturing sector, USD4.3 billion for consumer electronics and home appliances, USD12 billion in automotive products, USD3.4 billion in consumer goods, USD12.7 billion in food and agricultural products, and USD3.2 billion in services. But Adam Dunnett, Secretary General of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said some deals were signed before the opening of the CIIE but only announced at the event. The Expo hosted representatives from 151 countries and regions, with 3,617 companies and more than 400,000 buyers.

The six-day Expo was held last week in the 1.5 million square meter National Exhibition and Conference Center in Shanghai. Many Shanghai offices and companies granted staff a three-day break for the first part of the week. In his keynote address on opening day, President Xi Jinping put the nation’s estimated total purchase of foreign goods over the next 15 years at USD30 trillion with another USD10 trillion in services. He made fresh promises to open China’s economy to the outside world, including lowering import tariffs and broadening market access, and voiced support for economic globalization as the country is locked in a trade war with the U.S. In addition, China would open up its lucrative domestic health care and education sectors, financial services, telecoms and mining, to foreign investors, Xi said. Its free-trade port in Hainan would speed up the construction process, while Shanghai would have greater autonomy for “free trade” trials, he said. Xi also announced that a “tech board” would be established in Shanghai to rival Hong Kong and the Nasdaq so that China’s start-ups can raise funds from the capital market more easily.

With Beijing and Washington locked in a trade war, the U.S. government had sent none of its senior government officials to the Expo. Although 180 U.S. companies took part, the American presence at the fair was noticeably smaller than it might have been. The show also included no American or Japanese “national pavilion”.

Alibaba Group announced a commitment to help import USD200 billion worth of goods from more than 120 countries over the next five years. The increasingly prosperous population of Chinese consumers living in smaller cities has driven a deal-making boom at the Expo. Homegrown companies’ purchases of imported goods were fueled by the strong appetite of smaller cities. These markets, according to Morgan Stanley, will create a USD9.7 trillion consumption market by 2030, as lower-tier cities make up 59% of China’s GDP. For example, Sun Lin, Director of Guizhou Heli Business and Investment Group, led a team to search for new products for the retailer’s 80 supermarkets located in Guiyang, Guizhou province, the China Daily reported. In a single day, Sun purchased about CNY30 million worth of commodities, including milk powder, edible oil and cereals from Australia, and peanut butter originating in the United Kingdom. “These new products will be available to citizens in Guiyang by the end of this year,” Sun said, adding that local consumers have upgraded their demand for daily necessities.

Suning Holdings Group, one of the country’s largest retailers by revenue, announced plans at the expo to import at least 5,000 kinds of products and services – imports that are new to the domestic market. It will import D17.24 billion worth of goods, officials said.

China has seen fast growth in service imports since it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, according to a report released by the Ministry of Commerce. Service imports surged to USD467.6 billion in 2017 from USD39.3 billion in 2001, with its global share increasing to 9% from 2.6%, lifting its world ranking from 10th to second place.

Shanghai issued an industrial map that spells out investment guidance and development plans for industries. Ten investment projects were also signed between overseas companies and districts at the Promotion Conference on Overseas Investment in Shanghai Industry, one of the support activities at the CIIE. Total investment reached CNY3.78 billion. The industrial map focuses on digital industry, emerging industry, modern service industry and modern agriculture. The map is split into two parts, the status quo map and the future map drawn from dimensions of space and industry. The space dimension includes 16 districts and 67 key areas in Shanghai, and the industry dimension includes 27 key industries such as finance and artificial intelligence (AI).

Sun Chenghai, Deputy Director of the CIIE Bureau, said that more than 200 companies have already signed up for next year’s Expo, with 100 having applied during this year’s event.