Foreign investment takes center stage at CIFIT

International fair being held online and offline this year in wake of outbreak of novel coronavirus

Promoting global investment in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 China International Fair for Investment and Trade, also known as CIFIT, kicked off online and offline on Tuesday in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province.

With the theme of "revitalizing investment confidence and promoting win-win cooperation", the event has attracted businesses from 42 countries and regions including the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Japan and South Korea.

The fair has an exhibition area of about 110,000 square meters and 16 specialized zones for investment and business promotions.

During the four-day event, its themed exhibitions offer a wide range of choices for global investors.

Mateusz Dawidowski, chief representative of the Chinese representative office in Shanghai of the Port of Gdansk, Poland's largest port, said they have participated in the fair for several years. It has helped to introduce many business projects to cities and ports in Poland, many of which are operating very successfully.

"We work closely with Xiamen Port under the Maritime Silk Road initiative and we are promoting more collaborations with ports in China," Dawidowski said.

"We are interested in investment in Xiamen in the areas of new technologies and products, artificial intelligence and more."

The fair features investment in China and overseas, Chinese development zones, talent attraction and the Maritime Silk Road initiative.

This year, the host province of Fujian has launched an exhibition of 6,000 sq m at the fair, combining exhibition with investment negotiations. It has also put 27 representative products on show.

The products demonstrate Fujian's competitive industries including intelligent equipment and electronic information, a staff member of the exhibition said.

It is the first time for Fujian to create an exhibition area for its nine cities and the Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone.

At the fair's industrial promotion area, there are exhibitions aiming to promote industries including high technology, green agriculture, new energy, the internet of things for industries, intelligent cities and financial technology.

As the guest country of honor of the fair this year, the Philippines has set up a 400-sq-m national pavilion, showing the country's investment environment, favorable business policies and quality products.

Apart from a series of business environment promotions and project docking activities, the Philippines has also designed a 3D showroom on the CIFIT online platform, which will operate throughout the year and provides businesspeople with the immersive experience of visiting exhibitions by utilizing the latest technologies.

John Paul Inigo, special trade representative of the consulate general of the Philippines in Guangzhou, said they have made great preparations for the fair as the Philippines will stay in the position of the guest country of honor for two years.

"I think CIFIT is the best business platform in China. Our participation is a must to attract Chinese investors to the Philippines," said Inigo, adding that the online platform of CIFIT will provide convenient and direct communication for international business negotiations.

"We have proposed 72 projects at the fair, half of which are expected to be signed by the end of the fair to bring about 20 billion yuan ($2.92 billion) of investment," Inigo said.

In addition, at the 1,000-sq-m exhibition area for Shanxi, the guest province of honor, a variety of products are displayed to show the province's charm.

For example, the province has set up an exhibition for promoting its handicrafts online and offline.

It has also built a specialized display zone for Shanxi's green environment, demonstrating its ecological governance progress.

Shanxi has been the guest province of honor at CIFIT for two years since 2019, said Zhang Baomin, deputy head of the Shanxi Investment Promotion Bureau.

This year, Shanxi will continue to take a role as "CIFIT's partnered host", Zhang said.

The province has also promoted its new businesses such as new infrastructure, new technology, new materials and new equipment.

During the event, a series of parallel forums focusing on topics including global investment, new economy and the industrial internet of things are also being held.

Contact the writers at liangkaiyan@chinadaily.com.cn