Shanghai is hosting the first annual China International Import Expo from November 5 to 10. There are more than 80 firms from Singapore that will be joining the trade fair, along with 350 senior business representatives headed by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), to introduce global participants to goods and services from across the country.
The expo’s purpose is to highlight imports to the second largest economy in the world.
Included among the participants from the Lion City are Tai Hua Foods, KinderWorld International Group, and Singapore Airlines.
President Xi Jinping announced the groundbreaking international trade fair a few months ago, as a sign of China’s commitment to promote global trade and open it’s market even further.
It is also a sign that China’s economy is now concentrating on quality rather than speed, as it opens its market to pricier and better quality goods for a population that has gotten wealthier over the past few decades, due to China’s fast economic growth.
More than 130 countries are joining in the international fair, with 2,800 businesses exhibiting their goods and services.
Singapore will take up the largest space among all of the Asean countries, occupying 1,425 square meters at the expo.
Teo Siong Seng, SBF chairman, spoke at a briefing in Shanghai yesterday, October 16. He said in Mandarin, ”Through this high-level platform, Singapore companies hope to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the Chinese consumer market in various sectors to open up more business opportunities.”
He further emphasized that 2018 is a significant landmark concerning the relationship between China and Singapore, because 40 years ago in November 2018, Deng Xiao Ping, then leader of China visited Singapore.
He said, “The mutual exchange of visits has since laid the foundation for close cooperation between both countries.”
Mr. Teo believes that the Lion City is in a unique position to assist businesses from China to enter markets in Asean nations as well as others, since Singapore has strong regional ties, a sophisticated legal framework, multicultural talents and technological expertise.
The SBF is scheduled to conduct a business matching session and a forum on trade and investment co-initiated by the Bank of China.
Booths from Singaporean companies will highlight goods and services from the food and beverage, finance and banking, education, healthcare, and logistics and transportation sectors.