Import expo attracts more participants than expected
March 13, 2018 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
The China International Import Expo, to be held from November 5 to 10 in Shanghai, had attracted more than the expected number of participants, Commerce Minister Zhong Shan told a press conference in Beijing on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC). Companies from 120 participating countries had overbooked the exhibition area by 20%, which is now expected to be enlarged. For the expo’s “national image display”, open to governments, China had originally planned to have 60 exhibiting countries, but many more wanted to take part, Zhong said. For the trade fair, open to merchants, companies from 120 countries had overbooked the exhibition area, even though the event was still eight months away. Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong said that more than 1,000 enterprises had reserved a combined 50,000 square meters of exhibition area for the fair. Shanghai delegates to the NPC said new measures would be taken to facilitate the import of exhibits for the fair
The fair was a reflection of Beijing’s push to better balance its trade with other nations by boosting imports and trimming its exports, said Tang Jianwei, Analyst at Bank of Communications (BoCom) in Shanghai. The Chinese government wants the event, dubbed one of the year’s four key diplomatic occasions, to win the hearts of the world’s traders by bringing them closer to China’s consumers and to muster support for the global trade system. The expo, expected to attract 150,000 buyers, was part of China’s answer to uphold globalization and free trade in an era when “the multilateral trading system is challenged and protectionism is on the rise,” Minister Zhong said. The fair also reflected “China’s determination, confidence, and sense of responsibility in opening up its market to the outside world,” he added. The import expo is to held annually, the South China Morning Post reports.
China is now the world’s second-biggest consumer market, with USD5.4 trillion of consumer spending last year, and consumption has been the chief engine of China’s economic growth for the past four years.
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