SHANGHAI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The signed exhibition area for the third China International Import Expo, or CIIE, has surpassed more than 60 percent of its planned exhibition area, according to the organizer Thursday.
More than 1,000 global enterprises, including nearly 100 exhibitors from Germany, have signed up to attend the 3rd CIIE, said Liu Fuxue, vice director of the CIIE Bureau, at its first online overseas roadshow promotion event.
"German companies played important roles in the last two editions of CIIE, and we had planned to hold a roadshow event in Germany to attract more German companies," Liu said.
Christine Mueller, deputy general manager at AHK/GIC Shanghai, said the COVID-19 pandemic has considerably worsened economic outlooks.
"This is why platforms such as the CIIE will be even more important to foster new connections and to deepen existing relations," said Mueller. "The last two editions have proven that CIIE is an excellent platform for German companies to develop closer relations with partners in the public sector and to network with existing or new potential business partners in China."
Samantha Tillner, head of Fairs, Events and Delegations Department at AHK/GIC Shanghai, said the CIIE has seen growing attractiveness among German firms.
"Our survey showed that only 5 percent of the German companies interviewed believed that participation in the import expo was very important during the first edition," said Tillner. "The number had risen to 40 percent in the 2nd edition."
Joerg Uwe Hille, who is with Carl Cloos Schweisstechnik GmbH, a German-based welding company with over 100 year's history, said the "cloud" roadshow is productive as it provided first-hand information.
"The CIIE provided such a great platform for us to form business relations and contract. We will expand our exhibition booth to 100 square meters this year," said Hille.
Statistics showed that more than 200 German companies attended last year's CIIE, up from over 170 in the first edition.
Amid the epidemic, non-contact means such as phone calls, video calls and emails, as well as cloud signing, have been introduced to accelerate the preparation of the third CIIE this year.
The CIIE is the first dedicated import exhibition in the world and has seen fruitful outcomes in the past two expos. The third CIIE will take place in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10.
