THE HAGUE, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- A presentation of China International Import Expo (CIIE), the first national expo in the world which focuses on imports, was held on Thursday in The Hague, sending invitation to Dutch enterprises to enter China's vast market with a population of 1.3 billion.
The first CIIE, a major event designed by the Chinese government to promote a new round of high-level opening-up, will be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10 this year. In May 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that China will host this Expo from 2018.
"In the coming five years, China will import products and services with a value of over 10 trillion U.S. dollars. It is our sincere hope that, through CIIE, we can advance economic globalisation and build an open world economy so as to generate favourable conditions to build a community of shared future for mankind," said Wang Dongtang, deputy director of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce's foreign trade department.
It is expected that hundreds of government ministers and high leaders from different countries and thousands of enterprises, including those among the Fortune Global 500, will attend the first CIIE, which will also attract a great number of government representatives, renowned enterprises and globally leading products. More than 150,000 domestic and foreign purchasers are expected to participate in the Expo.
China will grant more policy support to overseas exhibitors and a series of trade fairs, seminars, product releases, brand promotion conferences and press conferences will be held during the Expo, with "one-stop" trade platform built both online and offline, Wang told some 200 representatives from Dutch enterprises attending the presentation.
"We have sent out invitations to more than 200 trade partners worldwide, and have received positive feedbacks. The governments of many nations have actively participated and devoted a considerable amount of attention to the preparations," said Wang.
"So far, 183 overseas organizing agencies have been designated by more than 180 countries and regions. More than 1000 enterprises, including nearly 100 Fortune Global 500 enterprises and leading enterprises of various industries have expressed their intent to attend," he added.
Zhang Guosheng, economic Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands, called on Dutch enterprises to seize the opportunity of the CIIE to enter the Chinese market.
"Our cooperation in various fields has been flourishing. In 2017, bilateral trade hit 70 billion U.S. dollars, making the Netherlands China's third largest trading partner within the European Union. And the exports from the Netherlands went beyond 10 billion dollars for the first time," he noted.
"The Chinese economy is upgrading itself from high-speed growth to high-quality growth. We welcome all countries in the world, including the Netherlands, to share the fruits of our development. The CIIE is one of the golden keys for Dutch entrepreneurs to seize this opportunity," he said.
Dozens of Dutch enterprises including Royal DSM, Hypnoca and Nutricia, have confirmed their intent to join the first CIIE, according to the Chinese diplomat.
