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China economy
Economy

China’s international import expo in Shanghai set for smaller numbers as pandemic rages on

  • Some 400,000 people have registered for the China International Import Expo in Shanghai that begins this week
  • Billed as one of China’s premier trade expos, some foreign businesses have complained the event is largely of symbolic value

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The Shanghai government says 400,000 people have registered for the China International Import Expo (CIIE). Photo: Xinhua
Daniel Renin ShanghaiandAmanda Leein Beijing

The third China International Import Expo (CIIE) will go ahead this week with no sign of the global coronavirus pandemic slowing down, although there will be fewer exhibitors and visitors at the event in Shanghai amid restrictions on cross border travel.

The expo, which runs from November 5-10, was started in 2018 by Chinese President Xi Jinping as a way of boosting imports to close China’s trade surplus with partners and showing its commitment to an open economy at the onset of a bruising trade war with the United States.

While several of China’s top international trade expos this year have been held virtually or postponed because of the pandemic, the CIIE will be a physical event that underlines the country’s strong rebound from the coronavirus.

“The holding of the CIIE represents a triumph for China and Shanghai in containing the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Sun Lixing, a researcher at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. “Nobody could have expected it to be held on schedule at the beginning of this year.”

To meet the rising demand from the country’s rising consumption, Chinese importers are certain to spend heavily to buy
Sun Lixing

The Shanghai government said on Friday 400,000 people had registered for the event, although it did not provide a breakdown of foreign visitors. In 2019, more than 500,000 people registered for the trade fair with 6,000 from overseas.

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