BEIJING : Prime Minister Imran Khan will arrive in Chinese commercial andindustrial hub Shanghai to attend the opening of China International ImportExpo (CIIE) on November 5, officials said here on Sunday.
The Chinese government has granted the status of “Guest of Honor” toPakistan at the CIIE, to be held till November 10.
This will ensure the provision of all possible facilities and benefits tothe Pakistani pavilion. It is also a reflection of special gesture ofgoodwill towards Pakistan, especially when the country’s Prime Minister isgoing to participate in it.
According to Pakistan’s Ambassador Masood Khalid, a pavilion of Pakistanicompanies exporting various items to China would be set up at the expo.This will facilitate enhancing Pakistan’s export to China and to improveits balance of trade position between the two countries.
Imran Khan would pay a week long official visit to China from November 3rd,at the invitation of the Chinese government.
He would first arrive in Beijing where he would meet Chinese President XiJinping and Premier Li Keqiang and other senior civil military leaders,before leaving for Shanghai. The Chinese government attaches highimportance to the visit, hoping it would lead to furthering strengtheningof their socio-economic partnership, particularly in context of CPEC.
Meanwhile, Shanghai, host of the event, has reached the final stage of itspreparations, while products from all over the world have been arriving inthe city.
The CIIE is China’s first expo event that is expected to give firm supportto trade liberalization and economic globalization, and actively open theChinese market to the world, according to its official website.
A total of 2,800 companies from all the G20 member states, as well as 50countries and regions along the Belt and Road will participate in the expo.
Of the world’s 44 least developed countries, more than 30 will be presentat the event.
Read Top Stories
As the event is drawing near, goods from foreign exhibitors have arrived atlocal customs. Shanghai has opened green channels for the products,significantly cutting the time needed for them to be unloaded and stored inlocal warehouses.
So far, it is estimated that products from more than 1,500 exhibitors havearrived in the Chinese mainland, while that from another 1,000 have been orare being shipped.
Chinese companies are eyeing great potential in boosting imports throughthe event.
“During the CIIE, we expect to import at least 1,000 kinds of products andservices that have not been sold in the domestic market,” said Wang Zhe,Party head of China’s commercial giant Suning Holdings Group, “In the nextthree years, we plan to import goods worth 10 billion Euros (around 11.5billion U.S. dollars).
Liang Feng, president of state-owned China National Machine Tool Sales andTechnical Service Corporation, said CIIE will witness eight leadingcompanies in the machine tool industry launch a dozen of new products inChina for the first time.
More than 100 new products and technologies are expected to make debut atthe expo, according to statistics from the organizers.
“The CIIE shows China’s changing trade strategy and its resolve to fulfillits responsibility as a major country and achieve mutual benefits andwin-win cooperation with all nations,” said Zhao Beiwen, deputy head of theWorld Economy Institute under the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
