Editor's Note: The fourth edition of the annual China International Import Expo in Shanghai has drawn global corporate giants, world trade leaders and up-and-coming stars in business. Industry leaders agree the CIIE will continue to play a vital role in sustaining and boosting ongoing global economic recovery from COVID-19. Here, China Daily presents views of luminaries representing participating MNCs.

Q1: How many times has your company participated in the annual CIIE inaugurated in 2018? Why did your company take part in the CIIE?

Q2: In the context of the ongoing world economic recovery, do you think the CIIE has any added significance?

Q3: China has been striving to increase imports and the country's contribution to global economic recovery has been substantial. Please comment.

Q4: What prospects does your industry have in the China market? Also, what are the prospects for China's consumer market, going forward?

Q5: There is a widely held view that the business environment in China has improved tremendously in recent years. Are you confident it will continue to improve as the country vigorously rolls out higher-level opening-up? If yes, please elaborate.

Steven Lien, president of Honeywell China and Aerospace Asia-Pacific

A1 This year, Honeywell joins the China International Import Expo for the fourth consecutive year with a doubled booth area, fully demonstrating Honeywell's confidence in the Expo. Honeywell values the CIIE as a world-class platform and we signed over 20 cooperation agreements with Chinese partners at this year's Expo. We have also signed up for next year's CIIE to continue growing with our Chinese customers and contributing to the country's development goals, including China's efforts in peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

A2 The CIIE is of particular significance as it provides a world-class platform for global companies like Honeywell to enhance exchanges, promote investment and open new opportunities, which demonstrates China's willingness to share market opportunities with the outside world and promote world economic recovery in the COVID-19-ravaged era.

A3 China's opening-up efforts such as the CIIE are of particular significance amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as it shows the resilience of China's economy, demonstrates China's determination to play an important role in promoting an inclusive, sustainable and resilient global economic development and a sincere willingness to share its market opportunities with the outside world.

A4 Our core business is perfectly aligned with China's market demands such as a growing middle-income group, industrial digitalization and decarbonization. As China continues its economic growth in a more balanced and sustainable manner, the emerging market in China represents a big growth segment over the next decades.

About half of Honeywell's new product research and development investment is directed toward products that improve environmental and social outcomes for customers. The company is uniquely positioned to shape a more sustainable future in China, together with local partners, by continuously developing sustainability technologies that provide customers with adaptable and efficient solutions to their energy and environmental needs.

A5 China has made a lot of efforts in opening up its economy and improving its business environment for foreign investors. For example, Shanghai's Pudong New Area has been tasked by the government with the new mission of building itself into a pioneer area for socialist modernization, marking the country's latest step to further drive reform and opening-up.

Honeywell believes China's commitment to openness will further deepen reform and have a positive impact on the recovery and development of the global economy. With China opening further to the outside world, Honeywell will continue to enhance local R&D capabilities and bring technologies and products developed in China to overseas markets. We applaud China's continuous opening-up efforts and believe the dual-circulation development pattern is an important step to further deepen reform and opening-up.

Jason Peng, vice-president and China executive of Danaher

A1 This year is the fourth time for Danaher to participate in the CIIE. The event is a testament to the commitment of high-level opening-up in the new era made by the Chinese leadership. It is also a key practice to drive China's transition to a new development landscape.

It is a great opportunity to present our cutting-edge technologies and deep pipeline in the healthcare industry. We were at the medical device and medicine section of the CIIE to present hospital solutions, disease prevention solutions, bio product (vaccine) solutions, precision medicine solutions and green life solutions.

A2 This is a significant event that manifests resolute efforts from China to drive and support global economic recovery with a good level of practicality. The CIIE has been proven to be successful in promoting a dual-circulation economic model and building a self-sustaining economic loop. It continues to improve its business environment, which is beneficial to both domestic and foreign players. It will keep the Belt and Road Initiative actively in place by building an open, cooperative and international platform.

A3 During the first three quarters, China imported nearly $2 trillion worth of goods and services, marking a year-on-year increase of 32.6 percent and a historic high. China is now the largest export destination for many countries and has been scaling up its imports since the COVID-19 outbreak. It has become a major locomotive for global economic and trade recovery over the period.

At the same time, China is in the midst of a transition from high-speed to high-quality growth. Its industrial and consumption upgrades are also driving global economic recovery.

A4 The continuous healthcare policy changes in China such as national negotiations or volume-based procurement have profound impact on this industry. We have also seen amazing CAGRs in the biopharmaceutical industry in China, which is now fully competitive and undergoing consolidation. China is also catching up rapidly in terms of making extraordinary technological breakthroughs in this area. On the demand side, Chinese consumers have higher health awareness than before, as seen by rising spending on healthcare products and services.

A5 We have every reason to believe that MNCs will enjoy better and smoother business operations and production in China with the continuous improvement of the business environment and the formation of a dual-circulation economy.

We are very happy to see the significant achievements made by China to create a better business environment since its accession into the World Trade Organization 20 years ago. For example, we saw a better regulatory system with a number of trade and investment facilitation measures being put into place. We believe the above factors will keep delivering a better business environment in China.

Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro

A1 Covestro participated in the CIIE for the first time this year, under the theme of "Pioneering a Circular Economy for a Climate-Neutral Future". With a broad portfolio focused on circularity in various industries, we are strategically positioned to support and contribute to China's sustainable development, especially the nation's carbon neutral ambitions. At the CIIE, we demonstrated our successful collaboration cases, and explored new cooperation opportunities with all sides to help drive the high-quality, sustainable development of the Chinese economy.

A2 The CIIE is a demonstration of China's willingness to create easier market access and a fairer, more transparent business environment. For multinationals, the fair is not only an important occasion to increase brand awareness, but also helps to build closer bonds with partners to jointly drive business growth in China.

The CIIE is fully taking its role as the connecting force between China's domestic circulation and international circulation. As it was our first attendance at the CIIE, we leveraged this platform to introduce our innovative sustainable solutions and products, and explored huge opportunities in this promising market.

A3 China contributed 15 percent of the global import increment in the first half of this year, which underscores that it remains committed to market opening-up, strengthening cooperation and sharing the fruits with the world.

China's dual-circulation development model is set to sustain growth for the coming years, strengthening domestic demand and foreign trade. With the domestic market as the reliable mainstay, foreign enterprises will find a good environment in China.

With China's continuous efforts in opening-up as well as its carbon ambitions, we are encouraged to look for more room to grow here with our partners.

A4 We believe the demand for high-tech materials such as polymers will remain strong. For example, China's ongoing consumption upgrade has made it imperative to provide high-quality and sustainable products that meet consumers' changing needs in areas ranging from electric vehicles and autonomous driving over renewable energy to electronics and electrical products.

As China further promotes industrial and consumption upgrading and delivers its promise on carbon neutrality in the decades ahead, there will be huge opportunities for global companies like Covestro to support this development and realize high-quality growth.

A5 We are pleased that China issued a guideline this year to support the high-level reform and opening-up in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai, which is home to our regional headquarters. This gave us a strong dose of confidence to furthering our commitments in the Chinese market and we believe the business environment will continue to improve. In 2020, we upgraded our regional headquarters to accommodate more functions and a greater business scope.

Tracy Xie, president of Vale China

A1 Vale has been attending the CIIE since the first edition was held in 2018.Vale is the first and by far the only international mining company among all the CIIE exhibitors. The CIIE has helped Vale to differentiate ourselves from our major competitors, since the CIIE is a wonderful platform that allows us to increase knowledge of our products and technologies and engage our clients, business partners and other stakeholders. This year, we expect to reinforce our commitment to reducing Scope 3 net emissions by 15 percent by 2035 and to explore opportunities to further expand our partnership with China in combating climate change.

A2 The CIIE is far more than just an expo to showcase products and services. According to the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) for the development of commerce released by China's Ministry of Commerce, CIIE and other important exhibitions are clearly stressed as one of the key initiatives for the innovative development of foreign trade. The CIIE demonstrates China's determination to consistently push forward high-level opening-up and expand imports. The successful hosting of the CIIE amid the COVID-19 era is also of symbolic meaning. It is solid evidence that China is living up to its responsibility as a major country to promote global recovery and growth.

A3 As the world's second-largest importer for 12 consecutive years, China has been turning its market into a global market that is shared by all and accessible to all. From January to September, China imported goods worth nearly $2 trillion, up 32.6 percent year-on-year. In the first half of this year, China's imports of goods accounted for around 12 percent of the world's total, and China also contributed to 15 percent of the increase in imports worldwide during the period. All these statistics show that China has walked the talk and has been continuously contributing to global economic recovery.

A4 Vale has been a long-term partner of China for almost half a century and our strong confidence in the China market has never changed. We believe that China's pursuit of high-quality development will accelerate the green transformation and the decarbonization process of its steel industry, and high-quality mineral products will thus be in higher demand. Vale's iron ore products are recognized as the highest quality in the world. We will proactively embrace the new opportunities in China's new development stage to further strengthen our partnership with China in innovation and low-carbon areas, thus to share high-quality development with China.

A5 We are quite impressed with the ongoing development of the business environment in China in recent years. For example, the General Administration of Customs has implemented a series of reform measures to continuously improve the lead time of Customs clearance, such as the continuous implementation of the paperless customs declaration. At some ports, the Customs clearance lead time has been substantially reduced from several days in the past to the current several hours.

Aaron Tang, president of Karcher China

A1 It was our fourth time to participate in the China International Import Expo. For Karcher, China is one of the most important strategic markets and we think the CIIE, as a shared trading platform, brings us a wide variety of business opportunities, and enhances our brand awareness as well as open up new channels for exchange and cooperation with other partners. For this year's CIIE, we aimed to further raise the awareness and bring more advanced cleaning products and solutions to Chinese consumers, and we also look forward to deepen communications and cooperation with more potential partners.

A2 Under the circumstance of world economic recovery, the significance of the CIIE goes far beyond buying a certain amount of foreign goods and services. As a major platform for international procurements, investment promotion, cultural exchanges and open cooperation, the CIIE is a creative example that shows how China explores more efficient ways to connect domestic and foreign markets and share factors of production and resources with the outside world. It will also inject impetus into global trade and the economy. We are glad to attend this grand-scale event, and hope to contribute to global economic recovery.

A3 There is no doubt that China's increasing imports will benefit the country itself. It will also inject more vitality into the global economy and make international trade more balanced and sustainable. In the context of globalization, the pushing of the dual-circulation development pattern will help build active international trade and boost the global economy.

A4 Under the dual background of consumption upgrades and COVID-19 prevention and control, the market for cleaning products and services has witnessed an upsurge in China. When cleanliness and hygiene matter most in the pandemic-ravaged era, people have higher technical requirements for related products, and this has created unprecedented demand for more efficient, eco-friendly cleaning solutions. For this year's CIIE, we will launch eight new cleaning products to further satisfy Chinese consumer demand. As for China's consumer market, we believe that it is and will be one of the biggest markets in the world.

A5 Yes, we are confident that the business environment in China will continue to improve. According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the negative list on foreign investment will be further shortened this year, and I believe that the foreign-related legal framework will be improved to become more open and transparent in the future, and intellectual property protections will be further strengthened as well to better safeguard the legal rights and interests of foreign investors.

We noticed that China has taken steady steps to expand imports, with imports of goods and services outpacing the global average. And the number of China's pilot free trade zones has increased while the items on the national negative list for foreign investment have been further cut.

Zhang Ying, president of Dassault Systemes Greater China

A1 This year, Dassault Systemes appeared at the CIIE for the second time. At this year's CIIE, Dassault Systemes set up a booth shared with China National Building Materials Group to showcase digitally-empowered construction material innovations for achieving carbon peaking and neutrality targets and environmentally friendly sustainable development. Dassault Systemes is excited to play a part in this year's CIIE to show foreign and domestic leaders, guests, partners and visitors its technology and service capabilities in driving digital transformation. Participating in the CIIE again proves our commitment to the China market and our determination and confidence of building an everlasting presence in China.

A2 Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery of the global economy faces a range of challenges. With this in mind, the CIIE is one of the rare important international expos being held offline as scheduled, providing multinational companies like Dassault Systemes a valuable opportunity to showcase new products, connect with new partners and explore new markets. Behind the CIIE, it is the China market that rapidly emerges with limitless potential. This event also testifies to the attraction of China's market and its influence over the global market.

A3 Last year, China first achieved positive economic growth among all leading economies, and foreign investors have seen the robust resiliency of China's economy. According to the latest data from the World Trade Association, in the first half, China imported 12 percent of the world's exports, 0.7 percentage points higher than the previous year and accounting for 15 percent of global import growth. China also made crucial contributions to global trade recovery, as growth of its economy drove global growth while offering more opportunities for multinationals like Dassault Systemes to operate in the China market, thus contributing to global economic recovery.

A4 The 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) highlights that China will rely on innovations to boost high-quality development of the real economy and will deeply merge technological innovations into the real economy. These two points are critical for Dassault Systemes to build an established presence in the China market and better serve Chinese companies. We believe that China will focus on high-quality development of manufacturing in the future, with a focus on industries including aerospace, transportation, shipbuilding, high tech and healthcare through innovation-driven technological development.

A5 Yes. Hosting the CIIE is an important decision made by the Chinese authorities to roll out a new round of higher-level opening-up. For Dassault Systemes, the appeal of the Chinese market not only lies in more streamlined commercial and investment, but also the philosophy of cooperation promoted by the Chinese authorities for opening-up and mutual benefits. We are ready to play a role in, and contribute to, the growth of China's economy.