Shanghai (Reuters)-China will hold a reduced-scale annual import trade fair in Shanghai this week. This is a rare personal trade event held during the pandemic. In the context of global uncertainty, the country also has Opportunity to demonstrate its economic resilience.
Since the epidemic first appeared in the center of Wuhan last year, China has basically controlled the epidemic, and it will become the only major economy this year.
The China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held from November 5 to 10, although President Xi Jinping will address the opening ceremony via a video link shortly after the US presidential election.
Zhu Tian, ​​professor of economics and vice dean of Shanghai China Europe International Business School, said: “This shows that China is returning to normal and that China is still opening to the outside world.”
Although the focus of the exhibition is to purchase foreign goods, critics say this does not solve the structural problems in China’s export-led trade practices.
Although there are frictions between China and the United States on trade and other issues, Ford Motor Company, Nike Company NKE.N and Qualcomm Company QCON.O are also participants in this exhibition. Participate in person, but partly due to COVID-19.
Last year, China hosted more than 3,000 companies, and French President Emmanuel Macron said that a deal worth $71.13 billion was reached there.
The restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus have restricted the exhibition to 30% of its maximum occupancy rate. The Shanghai government stated that about 400,000 people registered this year, and there were nearly 1 million visitors in 2019.
Participants must undergo a nucleic acid test and provide temperature check records for the first two weeks. Anyone traveling overseas must undergo a 14-day quarantine.
Some executives said they were asked to postpone. Carlo D’Andrea, chairman of the Shanghai branch of the European Chamber of Commerce, said that detailed information on logistics was released later than expected by its members, which makes it difficult for those who want to attract overseas guests.