(Photo/Xinhua)

The second China International Import Expo (CIIE) is expected to attract over 500,000 professional buyers, said Ren Hongbin, China's assistant minister of commerce, at a media briefing on Nov. 2.

The figure has outnumbered that in the previous year, and that of even mostinternational professional exhibitions, Ren added.

According to him, these buyers are from every field of the national economy. 31 percent are from the manufacturing sector, and 23 percent from the whole sale and retailing sector.

Equipment, sci-tech life, as well as food and agricultural products are the three most attractive exhibition sectors for the buyers. Among the domestic buyers, 67 percent are in the private sector.

The group of overseas professional buyers is expanding rapidly. The first CIIE attracted a total of 3,600 foreign buyers, while the figure has soared to 7,000 this year, which indicates the international attraction and influence of the event.

The second CIIE has 15 guest-of-honor countries, up from 12 in the previous year. Among the 64 participating countries, 24 are new to the event, accounting for over 1/3 of the total. 24 are from Asia, 8 from Africa, 17 from Europe, 12 from America and 3 from Oceania.

The theme and topics of the second Hongqiao International Economic Forum, as well as the list of speakers and guests of its sub-sessions have been unveiled on the internet. The topics have been expanded from economy and trade the last year to comprehensive economic sectors, and the number of sub-sessions has also been added to five, covering more areas.

At the media briefing, vice mayor of Shanghai Xu Kunlin introduced the urban services that Shanghai will offer during the second CIIE.

Based on the success of the first one, the second CIIE further optimized field services and has built an all-round service system.

Xu said that 20 Chinese-English bilingual robots will be introduced at the CIIE to guide the visitors, and 180 more volunteer interpreters will be stationing at the exhibition, covering the six official languages of the United Nations as well as Korean.

Besides, the catering sector has also been reinforced. More catering service providers are now working to ensure food supply capability during peak hours.