China import expo ends with $80B in deals

The 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE) closed in Shanghai with fruitful results in cooperation and investment.

With a theme of "New Era, Shared Future", the six-day expo attracted about 3,500 global exhibitors from 129 countries and regions.

It featured the debut of 450 new products, technologies, and service items, and saw a total of 80.01 billion US dollars' worth of tentative deals reached for one-year purchases of goods and services, an increase of two percent from that of last year.

The impressive results reflect China's active exploration of higher-level openness. In the lead-up to the expo's opening, a special matchmaking session was organized, allowing business leaders to explore potential collaborations.

The epo's potential for global collaboration was also underscored by Song Shangzhe, deputy director-general of the secretariat of the Hongqiao International Economic Forum, an important part of the CIIE.

At the 2024 CIIE, China offered over 120 free booths and other support measures to 37 of the world's least developed countries, thereby helping them showcase their products at the expo. China has also expanded the exhibition area for African agricultural products.

African countries saw greater representation at the event with Benin, Burundi and Madagascar participating in the Country Exhibition for the first time.

"We have five products that we brought here to showcase what Rwanda can export to China. We have coffee, we have tea, we have honey, we have oil and chili and other handicraft products brought to the CIIE," said Prudence Sebahizi, Rwanda's Minister of Trade and Industry.

The Chinese government has reaffirmed its commitment to further opening its enormous market, including the implementation of unilateral opening-up measures and zero-tariff treatment to 100 percent of tariff lines for products originating from all least developed countries.