100-day countdown to first CISCE held in Beijing

The 100-day countdown to the opening of the first China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) was held at the People's Daily New Media Tower in Beijing on Aug. 20.

Guests at the event said accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system supported by the real economy is crucial for China to gain the strategic initiative in future development and international competition.

As a new platform for exchange and cooperation, the first CISCE will help enterprises from various countries strengthen cooperation and share opportunities, promote more orderly and efficient industrial interconnection between countries, and drive the building of resilient global industrial and supply chains.

The first CISCE will be held in Beijing from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2. With the theme, ”Connecting the World for a Shared Future," the expo will have a total exhibition area of over 100,000 square meters. It will feature five supply chains, including smart vehicles, green agriculture, clean energy, digital technology and healthy life. It will also have a supply chain service exhibition area.

"The CISCE is the world's first national-level expo themed on the supply chain, integrating the functions of trade promotion, investment cooperation, aggregation of innovation resources, and learning and communication. It builds an international high-end cooperation platform that connects upstream, midstream and downstream enterprises, integrates large, medium and small enterprises, promotes collaboration among industry, academia, research and applications, and enables interaction between Chinese and foreign companies," said Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the organizer of the CISCE.

Ren disclosed that more than 300 Chinese and foreign enterprises have confirmed their participation, with international exhibitors accounting for over 20 percent.

Zhou Kaiquan, deputy general manager of the China National Machinery Industry Corporation, said the first CISCE will not only provide good cooperation opportunities and a platform for exchange and interaction for market entities, but also help promote the liberalization and facilitation of global trade and investment, making industrial interconnection between countries more orderly and efficient.

Zhang Yihao, President and CEO of GE Healthcare China, said as the world's first national-level exhibition focused on the supply chain, the CISCE serves as an excellent public platform provided by the CCPIT to facilitate stable and unimpeded global industrial and supply chains.

According to the World Investment Report 2023 released in July by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), foreign direct investment inflows to China rose by 5 percent to a record $189.1 billion in 2022.

Since the beginning of this year, many foreign companies have cast their votes of confidence by expanding their business and increasing their investments in China.

Going forward, GE Healthcare will continue to leverage its five major manufacturing bases, joint ventures, and its more than 1,000 supplier partners in China to accelerate the localization of core components, bring more advanced manufacturing technologies and production lines to China, actively play its role as an industrial chain leader, and drive high-quality collaborative development of the medical industrial and supply chains, expressed Zhang.

"The 100-day countdown means that the preparatory work for the event has entered a critical stage. We will do a solid job in all aspects, sparing no efforts to build the first CISCE into a new platform to advance high-level opening up," said Ren.