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Premier Li Qiang is expected to promote free trade, encourage foreign investment, soothe concerns about the country’s slowing economy and highlight a trade deal with the US in a keynote speech as the eighth China International Import Expo (CIIE) opens on Wednesday. Li will for the third consecutive year address hundreds of government officials, business leaders and merchants from about 150 countries and regions to open the world’s largest import trade fair in Shanghai, Xinhua news agency announced on Monday. According to three company officials involved in preparations, the premier will also visit pavilions set up by some American companies after the opening – sending a clear signal to US and global businesses that China’s vast consumer market remains an investment magnet amid a de-escalation of the trade war between the world’s two largest economies. The annual six-day trade show covers 430,000 square metres at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre and has attracted 4,108 companies from around the world, according to its organiser, the CIIE Bureau – a unit of the Ministry of Commerce. “The trade show is not just an event for global businesses to display their products and services,” said Liu Liang, deputy director with Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences’ institute of applied economics, who is also an economic adviser to the local government. “We also expect to see innovative technologies, which will eventually provide a fresh boost to the new productive forces in Shanghai.” A total of 33 conferences under the Hongqiao International Economic Forum will also be held as part of the CIIE’s schedule of events. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu is scheduled to visit pavilions and booths featuring the city’s goods and services on Wednesday afternoon. He will also participate in a conference on Thursday to lure investment to Hong Kong. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump agreed to a trade pact in South Korea last week, which included tariff reductions by the US and a suspension of Beijing’s new restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets. Beijing will also resume purchases of American soybeans under the deal. At this year’s CIIE, American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Shanghai and the US Department of Agriculture will co-organise the official American Food and Agriculture Pavilion for the third time. In 2024, 31 American agricultural firms signed deals worth US$711 million with Chinese buyers during the six-day event, up 41 per cent from a year earlier, according to AmCham Shanghai. Tesla will also make a return to CIIE after -skipping the event last year. The US electric vehicle (EV) maker will showcase its Cybercab robotaxi, marking the Asia-Pacific debut of its driverless model. China launched the CIIE in 2018 at the beginning of its trade war with the US during Trump’s first presidency. At the time, Beijing hoped increasing purchases of foreign goods and services would help convince global partners of its commitment to free trade and market access. Deals worth US$80 billion were signed last year at the expo, up 2 per cent from 2023, according to the CIIE Bureau. Last year’s CIIE drew 3,500 exhibitors, including major multinational firms from carmakers Volkswagen Group and General Motors to consumer brands like L’Oreal and Muji. A record 430,000 people attended in 2024, up 4 per cent from the previous year. About 300 Fortune 500 companies joined the event, where 100 products and technologies made their global debuts.
