China to hold another import expo in November

BEIJING – China will host again this year its buying expo in November, Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan announced here.

Zhong said Beijing will stage the 2nd Chinese International Import Expo (CIIE) from November 5 to 10 after its successful launching last year.

He said this year’s CIIE will be larger than the first one, expanding the expo area to 330,000 square meters from 300,000 sq. m. in 2018.

He added that just like the launching of the CIIE, this year’s expo received huge interests from different countries that targets to sell more in the Chinese market.

CIIE only hosts foreign enterprises seeking to sell to the Chinese market. No Chinese manufacturers are allowed to participate in the expo.

This is part of the Chinese government’s initiative to import some USD5 trillion worth of goods and services worldwide within a five-year period.

“The CIIE is an international platform established to maintain the multilateral trading system and support economic globalization. It is also an effective vehicle to promote quality economic development and meet the needs of businesses for progress,” Zhong said in a press conference here over the weekend.

Zhong mentioned that due to large interest to the expo, slots to the buying show are nearly fully-booked.

It was noted that last year, due to overbooking by interested participants, the Philippine delegation was left with two booths out of more than 100 booths they booked for the CIIE.

Since the organizer was able to expand the exhibition area, the Philippines was able to get close to 50 booths and one national pavilion.

Philippines booths’ sales at the first CIIE amounted to USD124 million, exceeding its USD50-million target.

Moreover, the Chinese commerce minister noted that there is a high demand for healthcare products and services in China as its government strengthens this sector.

Zhong said around 8.5 million people are being added yearly in China’s aged population.

Healthcare service also faces challenges, with gap between healthcare service’s demand and supply stood at around 2 million beds, said Zhong.

He added that it is also “very difficult” to find healthcare service professionals in the domestic market, even if there is surplus in number of workforce in the countryside, as it is “difficult to move them to cities”.

Zhong noted that healthcare sector is where the Chinese government will seek opportunity to cooperate with other countries.