Branding China
Global corporate giants from China, the US and elsewhere participating, Cao Yingying reports.
Expo in Shanghai presents domestic goods to the world
The 2018 China Import Expo to be held in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, will showcase the city’s strength in the electronics industry and provide platforms for global companies to seek out more business opportunities, said organizers.
The expo, to be held at Kunshan’s Huaqiao International Expo Center, runs from May 16 to 18.
It is hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Jiangsu provincial government. To offer a high-end, intelligent and environmentally friendly expo, the organizers have replaced the previous consumer goods exhibits with new photo electronics, semiconductor and electrical equipment exhibits this year.
According to officials of the fair’s organizing committee, a total of 400 international companies will display their photo electronics and semiconductor products during the expo.
These include multinationals such as Microsoft, Fujitsu, Keyence, Osaka Transformer and Chinese technology companies including telecom giant Huawei, Huatian Technology (Kunshan) Electronics and Kunshan Go vision ox Optoelectronics.
The exhibition will consist of three main parts.
The first one is the intelligent manufacturing exhibition area, which will showcase products related to artificial intelligence, precision machines and industrial automation — as well as numerical control equipment, pharmaceuticals and environmental protection equipment.
The second exhibition area will display semiconductor equipment and materials, integrated circuit sensors and chip manufacturing processes.
The third exhibition area will display electric motors as well as related equipment, key components and parts, computer integrated manufacturing systems and related technologies.
To boost cooperation between companies from China and the world, this year’s China Import Expo — or CIE — will host the first Sino-US (Kunshan) Intelligent Manufacturing Cooperation Forum, the seventh World Business Leaders (Kunshan) Conference and different themed matchmaking meetings.
International industry leaders are invited to discuss hot topics such as e-commerce, Internet Plus, industrial transformation and upgrading, and solutions to problems related to these areas will be provided during the expo.
Some of the big names attending the forum include Zhang Yujing, president of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, Zhang Kelin, vice-president of the China Machinery Industry Federation, Sun Bo, general manager of JD Logistics — the logistics arm of China’s e-commerce giant JD. They will be joined by many more industrial leaders in China.
In addition to Chinese business leaders and officials, the United States Consul-General in Shanghai Sean Stein, Verinda Fike, the manager of North East Asia at the US Trade and Development Agency and other leaders of US companies, such as GE, IBM and Microsoft, are expected to share their opinions at the forum.
The seventh World Business Leaders (Kunshan) Conference, hosted by the China Chamber of International Commerce, will focus on innovative development and aims to promote global industrial and commercial cooperation.
Top international figures will attend the conference.
They include Roger Fisk, the globally renowned strategist who was director of former US President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign; Zhang Xingping, senior vice-president of ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing, Omar Ahmad Adi Al Bitar, ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to China and the leaders of other companies.
To improve service quality and promote communications between exhibitors and buyers, this year’s CIE will launch several matchmaking events for enterprises with different themes.
These themes include intelligent equipment and accessories, Sino-US intelligent manufacturing, Sino-Japanese semiconductors, automation and the robot industries.
Organizers will arrange representative companies in related industries to talk with each other face to face, to offer more opportunities for cooperation.
According to officials, the expo will also set up special stands for financial leasing services.
Last month, the Kunshan city government released new policies to promote financial leasing and equipment trade, to help the technical development of local companies.
The policies are seen stimulating more transactions of related products, equipment and services at the expo.
“The 2018 CIE will continue to make efforts to help Kunshan attract influential financial leasing companies and professionals and promote integrated development between financial leasing companies and local manufacturers,” said an official in the event’s organizing committee.
Lei Shing Hong Leasing, China Development International Leasing, Kunshan Zhonghongxin Leasing and another eight leasing companies will attend the exhibition.
The CIE — one of China’s most important and professional trade shows for imports — was launched in 2012.
According to official statistics, during the last six years, the annual expos have attracted 4,243 companies from 46 countries and regions, including the US, Japan, Germany and Australia.
Organizers said the events served 287,200 professional visitors and the exhibition area totaled 430,000 square meters over the past years.
The 2018 CIE will continue to make efforts to help Kunshan to attract influential financial leasing companies and professionals.” An official at the expo’s organizing committee