The evolution of China's opening-up policy is presenting new opportunities for the global business community, multinational executives attending the Fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai said.  

"We are excited and inspired by President Xi Jinping's speech at CIIE 2021, which reaffirmed China's resolute commitment to expanding high-level opening up and sharing market opportunities with the world," said Jeffrey Xu, Senior Vice President of 3M and President of 3M China. 

With a population of 1.4 billion and over 400 million middle-income earners, China will share market opportunities through measures such as opening more demonstration zones for creative promotion of import trade and promoting e-commerce along the ancient Silk Road, Xi said in his keynote speech on November 4. 

As part of its drive to open up at a high standard, China is shortening the negative list for foreign investment and expanding the opening of telecommunication, healthcare and other services, the president said. 

Xu said China is an important market for 3M, a U.S.-based multi-manufacturer. Since it first set up shop in Shanghai 37 years ago, the company has made significant investments in China, serving customers through a comprehensive product portfolio, Xu added.

"3M looks forward to introducing more innovative achievements to the Chinese market via high-level platforms like the CIIE," Xu said. 

Steven Lien, President of the China business of Honeywell, a U.S.-headquartered conglomerate, echoed Xu, saying, "In his speech, President Xi emphasized openness and cooperation, and showed the world that China is willing to further share development opportunities and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, which is very encouraging."

"The CIIE is an example of China's efforts to build an open world economy and promote the development of multilateral trade," said Xiao Song, China CEO of German technology giant Siemens, adding that the event helps promote innovation and industrial cooperation, and facilitates the stable recovery of the global economy. 

The expo is a sign of business returning to normal, Koji Nakashima, Vice President of Canon China, said. "While the global spread of COVID-19 remains rampant, this year's CIIE being held in an orderly manner as scheduled injects confidence in Canon to further invest in the Chinese market and grow together with the country," he said.  

The Japanese multinational has been participating in the expo for four consecutive years. "Canon hopes to seize the opportunity and focus on displaying a series of its leading achievements in the health and medical field at this year's CIIE," Nakashima said. 

Inaugurated in 2018, the CIIE is the world's first dedicated import exhibition. Nearly 3,000 businesses from 127 countries and regions are attending the Fourth CIIE, covering an offline exhibition area of 366,000 square meters and scheduled to run from November 5-10.