E-platform to make import expo endless

The China International Import Expo, which will be held in Shanghai from Nov 5 to 10, launched its one-stop online trading platform on Wednesday.

The platform aims to give the six-day event an extended life online throughout the year.

Companies participating in the CIIE will be able to display their products on the e-platform. They can seek potential partners, and complete online trading using cashless tools like digital payment systems.

In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in May last year, President Xi Jinping announced China will host the CIIE from 2018.

Donghao Lansheng, the expo's operator, and the Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai, will be responsible for the design and management of the online platform.

Some 30 companies have already created a presence on the e-platform.

Wang Qiang, chairman of Donghao Lansheng, said the platform is one of the major tasks identified in the State Council's plan for the CIIE. The latest products and technologies from all over the world will be showcased both online and offline. With the platform, the expo will grow into "an exhibition that never ends".

Cao Wei, vice-president of the expo operator, said the purpose of launching the online platform is to ensure the success of all participants of the CIIE and create an ecosystem that connects internet, the expo and trade services.

"We would like to build the expo into one of the best examples of China's opening-up policy," he said.

According to Shang Yuying, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, the platform will help boost the import and export trade in China and the Asia Pacific region. So far, nearly 2,000 companies have committed to attend the CIIE, and the majority of them are from overseas.

"Foreign companies will have to fly (a lot of stuff) all the way from their home country to Shanghai for the expo. Given all the efforts they have to make, we would like to extend our services online so that these overseas companies can demonstrate their latest achievements on the platform and make the most of the expo," she said.

She also said that the expo organizer is seeking to develop a mobile app to reach a global audience.

Shanghai's Party secretary Li Qiang said at a meeting to mark the 200-day countdown to the expo that the CIIE is the first national-level exhibition featuring import, showing China's resolution and responsibility of opening-up in the new era.

Data from the General Administration of Customs showed last week the country's first-quarter imports were worth 3.21 trillion yuan ($510 billion), up 11.7 percent year-on-year.