Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang pledged to share China’s market with the rest of the world and promote balanced international economic development at the opening ceremony of the 2026 China International Import Expo (CIIE) on Thursday.

“Mutual benefit is at the heart of trade and economic cooperation,” Ding said in his opening address. “Open and connected markets are fundamental for such partnerships.” 

Ding also called for deeper investment cooperation, greater collaboration in technological innovation, and stronger dialogue to remove trade barriers.

This year’s CIIE, the ninth annual event and the largest edition to date, welcomes a record 4,142 overseas companies from 162 countries, regions, and international organizations to Shanghai’s National Exhibition and Convention Center. The event’s total exhibition area is also its largest, exceeding 440,000 square meters.

The event, which runs Nov. 5 to 10, welcomed more than 300 Fortune Global 500 companies and global leading enterprises, with 2,000 companies participating for the first time. A record more than 480 products will either make their global, Asia, or China debut at the expo, including a laparoscopic surgery robot by Johnson & Johnson, a cochlear implant capable of 360-degree sound coverage by Swiss hearing care firm Advanced Bionics, and a 6G terminal prototype by U.S. tech company Qualcomm.

This year’s exhibition comprises six main sections covering technical equipment, consumer goods, food and agricultural products, automobiles and smart mobility, medical devices and health care, and trade in services. It also offers a dedicated “innovation incubation zone” for tech startups.

CIIE has also expanded efforts to support African countries, with free exhibition booth space for the “least developed” countries up 17% from last year’s exhibition. The expansion comes as China introduced zero tariffs on imports from all 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations in May.

Launched in 2018, CIIE is the world’s first national-level exhibition dedicated to imports. The expo underlines China’s continued efforts to promote inclusive economic globalization and build an open world economy. 

In the first nine months of 2026, China’s imports of foreign goods reached 16.7 trillion yuan ($2.5 trillion), up 22.3% year on year, the fastest growth since 2021, according to official data. 

(Header image: A view of the China International Import Expo’s exhibition center in Shanghai, Nov. 5, 2026. VCG)