Preparations for the fifth China International Import Expo, to be held from Nov 5 to 10 in Shanghai, are in full swing. Invitation procedures for exhibitors are progressing smoothly with about 85 percent of the planned business exhibition space already booked, said event organizers.

According to Sun Chenghai, deputy director-general of the CIIE Bureau, who attended the 100-day countdown on Wednesday, the fifth CIIE, like previous editions, will comprise a business exhibition, the Hongqiao International Economic Forum, a country exhibition, as well as a slew of supporting activities and people-to-people exchanges.

In terms of the business exhibition, the fifth CIIE will again feature six exhibition areas — food and agricultural products, intelligent industry and information technology, medical equipment and healthcare products, consumer goods, trade in services, and automobiles.

According to Sun, the 2022 edition will have some Fortune Global 500 companies including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, ThyssenKrupp and Gilead Sciences in attendance for the first time. To date, more than 270 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry pacesetters have signed up to participate in the annual import-themed fair with nearly 90 percent being repeated participants.

This year, many organizing agencies from countries such as Norway and Belgium have joined the CIIE network for the first time. These agencies will play an important role in inviting local small and medium-sized enterprises to take part in the expo. Member nations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement are also planning to participate in the expo, according to Sun.

Over the last few years, the organizers of the CIIE have been establishing subsections within exhibition areas to enhance service standards. The fifth edition will have more new subsections established. For example, a crop seeds subsection and an artificial intelligence subsection will be set up to strengthen communication between businesses and bolster relevant industrial growth.

Subsections dedicated to serving innovation incubation, debuted in 2021 edition, will be established again in the exhibition areas of automobiles, intelligent industry and information technology, and medical equipment and healthcare products. Such subsections will also be present for sports and fashion design.

In the last few months, the CIIE organizers have been taking measures to strengthen communication with the CIIE Enterprise Alliance and special committees under the CIIE Enterprise Alliance. More than 50 events including promotion sessions and signing ceremonies had been held online and offline to promote the fifth CIIE. Investment promotion activities were also held in Sichuan, Jiangxi and Liaoning provinces to bring about more business opportunities for those regions.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the outbreak in mega city Shanghai, many enterprises are facing challenges in operation in 2022. The CIIE organizers have developed support policies to help businesses overcome problems. Those policies will benefit participants of the CIIE in terms of tax, market admission and customs clearance, according to Sun. Booths set-up subsidies are also available to exhibitors. Special measures have been taken to cater to the least developed countries participating in the expo. These measures include the provision of free exhibition booths and subsidizing set up costs. SMEs will also gain more support from the CIIE organizers.

Sun said efforts have been taken to support business exhibitors invitation work. Trade missions for industries have been launched to better connect buyers and sellers. Demand for more than 600 products and several exhibits lists have been released to better inform exhibitors and purchasers. Seven matchmaking sessions for different exhibition areas were organized.

This year, the professional visitor registration system was also upgraded to enhance experiences for related participants.

According to Sun, this year's Hongqiao International Economic Forum will be themed on global openness and consist of a main forum and several subforums. The World Openness Report 2022 and the World Openness Index will also be released during the forum.

This year, government departments and professional institutions will organize subforums at the Hongqiao International Economic Forum to share the latest insights and market reports. Topics will cover digital economy and trade, regional economic integration and sustainable development of the industrial chain, food safety, healthcare, aging population, low-carbon green development and the construction of the Hongqiao hub in Shanghai.

The emphasis on internationalization will also be highlighted through subforums, Sun said. Representatives from international organizations such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the United Nations Global Compact and the International Trade Centre will participate in discussions at the CIIE.

This year, country exhibitions will be held online to showcase countries' achievements in cultural, economic and social fonts.

To date, nearly 50 countries, including Italy, Brazil, Thailand and Saudi Arabia, have confirmed their participation in the fifth CIIE's country exhibition.

Since 2018, more than 120 countries in total participated in the country exhibition, showcasing foreign countries' passion for the CIIE.

"This year, we will use advanced technology to create a new version of the online national exhibition, or version 2.0, and build a cloud exhibition hall featuring richer content," said Sun.

Long acknowledged as a cultural promotion platform, a large number of on-site cultural activities will be held to boost communication between countries and regions.

According to Sun, the concept of green development will also be promoted at the fifth edition to echo China's dual carbon goals, which aim to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Sun emphasized that the fifth CIIE will strictly implement epidemic prevention and control requirements, continue to strengthen epidemic prevention work in the venues, and make every effort to ensure the safety of all visitors.