LatAm enterprises expect presence at China's import expo next year

SHANGHAI, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- As the 5th China International Import Expo (CIIE) concluded on Thursday in Shanghai, Latin American exhibitors, having cut deals and won a bigger client base, said they want to come again.

Companies from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, the Mexican state of Jalisco and other countries and regions presented new products and technologies, which, as Joao Carlos, vice general manager of Brazil's WD Group in restaurant investment, said, has delivered synergy.

At the food and agricultural products area with Colombian coffee, Argentine beef, Uruguayan lamb and organic bananas from the northwest of South America, 20 Argentine enterprises formed a group exhibition. Among them is the High Altitude Wineries Consortium, which has attended the CIIE for five consecutive years.

On Tuesday, with a cooperation agreement signed with the Shanghai Oriental International (Group) Co., Ltd., the consortium has found sales agents for three premium wines made in Domingo Molina, one of its wineries.

King's Gel, a Brazilian company specializing in acai freeze-dried powder and propolis products, has rushed to dispatch more goods to the fair due to these products being sold out, though it was located in a remote area of the booth for Brazilian food.

"Despite the occurrence of a pandemic, we have achieved very good success and had good contact this year," said Carlos. The WD Group has participated in the expo for five years.

Cao Qixiang, co-founder of the wineries' consortium, said he had been interested in only China's importers before, but having come to five CIIEs, he changed his mind. "The CIIE is a huge platform. No matter it's wine importers and distributors, or enterprises in other industries, they are all our customers," Cao said.

Similarly, many other Latin American exhibitors said the CIIE helped them expand their client base and opportunities.

Lok Foods, a Colombian chocolate producer and fresh CIIE-goer, had viewed its Shanghai trip this year as just a try. But then it sensed the huge potential of the Chinese market with more than 50 potential customers, including not only wholesalers, but also emerging online retailers, like those from group-buying mobile apps.

President of Lok Foods in China Li Xiao said visitors to the CIIE are very professional, and the company "will immediately implement specific cooperation after the exhibition."

The expo is an "intersection" for companies to enter the Chinese market, both first-tier and second- or third-tier cities, said Federico Brusau, commercial consul of the Consulate General of Argentina in Shanghai.

"This is very important not only for Shanghai, but also for us, because Argentina is trying to enter these markets and those secondary and tertiary cities that are of strategic significance to us. The markets in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are big markets, but all countries are there. We want to go to places that other countries have not yet reached," he said.

Juan Astesiano, director general of Uruguay's Dragon Vast Corporation Ltd., said he will not hesitate to attend the CIIE next year. "The exhibition gathered high-quality customers from all over China, saving us a lot of travel and advertising costs."

The CIIE has become an important platform for China and Latin America to leverage their respective strengths and strengthen economic and trade exchanges, said Zhou Mi, deputy director of the Institute of American and Oceanian Study at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce.

Latin American countries need to combine their industrial and product advantages with China's increasingly upgraded consumer demand to tap the Chinese market, while orders from China will in turn prompt Latin American countries to develop high value-added industries, Zhou said.

"The CIIE has provided strong support for the economic cooperation and steady development in China, Latin America and beyond. The continuous exchanges and cooperation between China and Latin America have created favorable conditions for both sides to upgrade their positions in global industrial chains," Zhou said.

"I believe that we will continue this path in the next few years. Therefore, I wish Argentina and other countries every success in this expo. I think the best thing is yet to come," said Brusau.