China Hosts the World’s First International Import Expo

Shanghai is currently hosting China’s massive trade fair aimed to show the country’s support for a global open market.

The first China International Import Expo kicked off on Monday, attracting over 400,000 local buyers and more than 3,600 businesses from 172 countries based on official numbers.

Among the almost 180 American companies attending were Google, General Motors, Johnson and Johnson, and Honeywell, CNBC reports.

Shanghai welcomed the participants by lighting up its buildings across town on Sunday night. The city also signed up around 300 college students as volunteers to help direct visitors around the massive exhibition space.

The event, which runs from November 5 to 10 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center, is the world’s first import-themed national-level expo. It is seen by some as China’s means of developing trade ties with other countries in the wake of a tariff war with the US.

In his opening speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that the country is ready to ease barriers to industries such as financial services, agriculture, mining, and education.

He added that China would also increase purchasing of imported goods while lowering tariffs, promising to import as much as $30 trillion in goods and $10 trillion in services during the next 15 years.

Xi also committed to having China create a better business environment with a reasonable system of rules.

China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission announced on Tuesday that 13 of China’s state-owned enterprises have already signed deals “with large foreign businesses and enterprises on imports, services and technology cooperation projects.”

Among the companies mentioned in the announcement included Volkswagen, Westinghouse Electric, robotics and power grid company ABB, Carnival, Rolls-Royce and Standard Chartered.

Featured image via Xinhua

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