3rd CIIE opens to the world

Many new products, technologies and services are making their debuts, for either China or the world. Several "hidden champions", a term for enterprises that dominate a narrow business segment but are largely unknown to the general market, are also participating in the expo.

Government officials have also provided preferential support to incentivize exhibitors. As an example, CIIE participants enjoy larger tax exemptions for the deals they make during the event. The tax exemptions will become a fixture moving forward.

In the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, global buyers have showed a continued interest in taking part in the trade fair. Some 400,000 professional visitors from 112,000 companies signed up for the event. The event also boasts 39 buyer groups and nearly 600 sub-groups. Among those registered buyers, 2,238 companies each have more than $1 billion in annual sales revenue. Nearly 1,400 companies are each worth more than $100 million in annual import value. Buyers from the manufacturing, wholesale and retail industries account for 30.6 percent, 16 percent and 8.2 percent of the total number of buyers. Professional buyers from the Yangtze River Delta region, Pearl River Delta region and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region account for nearly one-third of all buyers, according to statistics from the CIIE Bureau.