CCTV: On the evening of November 4, the opening ceremony of the 3rd China International Import Expo was held in Shanghai.
As the first national-level expo with the theme of imports, the CIIE is becoming an important window for global companies to understand the Chinese market and seek investment opportunities. On this stage, ambassadors from many countries have turned into super salesmen, enthusiastically promoting their own country’s specialty products.
Jose Luis Bernal, Mexican Ambassador to China: Mexico’s beverages are very famous, such as tequila.
Austrian Ambassador to China Shi Difu: We have 22 companies participating in the CIIE. Some companies will showcase consumer products and foods such as chocolate, coffee, tea, cocoa and other foods. Others will showcase robotics and Internet applications.
Croatian Ambassador to China Dario Mihailin: This year, the focus of the Croatian delegation is to promote Croatia’s high-quality agricultural products to the Chinese market. We are fortunate to be able to introduce more and more Croatian products into China. For example, Croatian wine has entered the Chinese market, and Croatian olive oil has also entered China. Starting in July this year, Croatian cheese and dairy products can enter the Chinese market.
Swiss Ambassador to China Luo Zhiyi: The CIIE provides an opportunity to enter the market, because Switzerland’s robotics technology is also very advanced, but not so well-known. Swiss financial services, such as technology finance and green financial services, are also excellent. Everyone knows that Switzerland is famous for chocolate, which is great, but we have many other industries. My mission at the CIIE is to let more people know about other industries in Switzerland.
Luis Clerkler, Argentine Ambassador to China: Every year we meet at the CIIE , more business people, importers and distribution companies. They really want to buy food products from Argentina, and we are also passionate. We want to export a variety of products to China.
With the strengthening of China’s opening to the outside world, the world pays more and more attention to the foundation of the Chinese market, and various countries have made longer-term plans for economic and trade cooperation with China.
Jose Luis Bernal, Mexican Ambassador to China: We are working hard to change our international promotion model. We are working together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Agriculture to formulate a new strategy specifically for the Chinese market. We are working with the private sector in Mexico to let them understand the huge potential for cooperation with China.
Teshome Toga, Ethiopian Ambassador to China : We hope to increase sales of Ethiopian products that have entered the Chinese market. We also hope that these products have added value. Of course, in order to add value to our products, we have to cooperate with Chinese investors.
UAE Ambassador to China Ali Zahiri: The bilateral non-oil trade volume between the UAE and China exceeded US$50 billion in 2019. We are confident that the bilateral trade volume will reach US$200 billion by 2030. The CIIE will hold a green investment conference, and the UAE can also make a lot of contributions.
As a symbol of China’s opening up, the CIIE is receiving more and more attention and blessings from the world.
UAE Ambassador to China Ali Zahiri: There is no doubt that the CIIE is a symbol of China’s openness. The CIIE will contribute to global free trade. It provides a high-level platform that establishes interconnections for companies to tap opportunities and promote trade.
Teshome Toga, Ethiopian Ambassador to China: I personally think that the future of the CIIE is broad. I think the CIIE will get better and better.
