The China International Fair for Investment & Trade will revisit Xiamen, Fujian Province, this September, with the aim of providing a platform for global businessmen to come together.
A press conference for the event on Aug 11 gave an outline of the 19th CIFIT and detailed this year’s highlights, which include the Belt and Road Initiative, UNIDO’s participation, strong exhibitions and professional seminars and high-end business matching events.
Belt and Road Initiative
The Belt and Road Initiative, mirroring the emphasis China lays on raising connectivity between the developed and the under developed nations in Asia, Africa and Europe, enjoys adequate attention of the fair’s sponsor - China’s Commerce Ministry.
A package of events will take up the Belt and Road theme.
A New Silk Road thematic exhibition will introduce investment opportunities and distinctive merchandise from nations along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (the maritime Silk Road) and Silk Road Economic Belt (the continental Silk Road).
A Silk Road Dialogue will talk about industrial and cultural cooperation among Maritime Silk Road nations in a bid to promote mutual appreciation and joint progress. Its organizer is a think tank alliance whose members have the same research priority on the Belt and Road Initiative.
Two other seminars held under the Belt and Road theme will address risk control issues for investing abroad and cooperation to secure food safety.
A clutch of high-end networking events will offer businessmen from Belt and Road nations plenty of opportunities to nurture partnerships.
UNIDO’s participation
The fair’s long-term partner, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), will mark its 50th anniversary by organizing a series of activities integrated into the fair. This will include one dedicated exhibition celebrating its commitment to push for sustained and inclusive development over the years.
UNIDO will help organize the 2016 International Investment Forum (IIF), an important side event of CIFIT. The organization’s director-general will give speeches at the IIF sessions.
Prioritizing industrial transformation in developing countries, the UNIDO will organize a professional investment forum, which will likely have political dignitaries from Ethiopia and Senegal in attendance. A report on the progress of industrial upgrading in Ethiopia will be released by Chinese economist Justin Yifu Lin at the forum. Lin is working with UNIDO to provide his expertise in economic reforms for the benefit of African countries.
Massive structure of exhibitions
The 19th CIFIT will include 138,000 square meters of exhibition space at the Xiamen International Convention and Exhibition Center on the east coast of Xiamen Island, which represents the most fascinating side of the modern city.
A record number of 6,000 booths will be allocated to three departments: an investment section, exhibitions sorted by industries and the specialty products exhibitions.
Exhibitions in the investment section will cover international investment, investment in China, China’s outbound investment, matchmaking for talents and capital, financial cooperation and crowd funding.
The industry-specific exhibitions will include exhibitions of art and collectibles, environment-friendly construction materials, health care industry, e-commerce industry, farm produce and tea products.
The product exhibitions will aggregate imported goods through e-commerce channels and productions from various parts of the world.
As of late, business organizations and trade promotion agencies from nearly 50 countries and regions, including Russia, Japan, Brazil and The United Arab Emirates have reserved booths to display distinctive products and investment opportunities.
An 800-square-meter exhibition has been allocated to Italy, this year’s Guest Country of Honor, while a 1,000 square meters space is allocated to showcase Australia’s pillar industries. The Guest Province of Honor at this year’s event is Jiangxi, which will have access to an exhibition area that is as large as the Australian booth.
The Macao pavilion will be spacious, covering 6,000 square meters, and aims to show the Chinese city’s ambition of attracting investors.
So far, 500 business delegations from 80 countries and regions already confirmed their attendance, while the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, International Finance Corporation, World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies and World Trade Center Association will send delegates to the fair.
Investment tips from the experienced and authoritative
Political dignitaries, business leaders, senior officials of influential international organizations and established economists from China and abroad will share their experiences and offer their insights to audiences at the International Investment Forum (IIF). This year’s forum includes themes of new ideas, new development and new economic landscape. China Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng, UNIDO director-general Li Yong and Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin will be among the high profile speakers at the IIF sessions.
China’s Commerce Ministry, the fair’s sponsor, will hold a string of forums and seminars during the fair. They will target industrial cooperation, cross-Straits economic cooperation, the development of the financial leasing industry in China and corporate cooperation between China and the United States. The Ministry will release a report on foreign investment in China for 2016.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development will release a Chinese version of the report on global investment activities.
Effective business matching
Aside from hosting exhibitions including a wide range of products and services and putting together forums in search of solutions to various challenges encountered in economic development, CIFIT also plays a vital role in bridging promising investment projects and powerful investors.
This year, the fair will give priority to promoting the telecommunications, service trade, modern agriculture, infrastructure, new energy, equipment manufacturing, petrol chemical, bio-medicine, and financial service industries.
As China seeks to promote innovation in its products and services, and discover alternative funding channels for start-up companies, the fair will integrate a string of matchmaking activities for investment funds and fledging businesses to hold cooperation talks.
In total, more than 30,000 prospective investment projects will be presented to participants at 3,000 presentations and business matching activities.
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