A photo taken at the booth of Zhejiang China Commodities City Group at the fifth China International Import Expo in Shanghai. [Photo/Yiwu Media Center]

The opening ceremony of the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE) kicked off in Shanghai on Nov 4. The CIIE, the world's first import-themed national-level expo, allows more countries to benefit from China's development opportunities.

During this year's CIIE, Zhejiang China Commodities City Group cooperated with foreign companies to build a "Chinagoods full-link trade service" exhibition area. With three C-type digital warehouses and six commodity booths, the area displayed various things related to import trade services, including overseas service stations, global digital warehouses, digital logistics, supply chain finance, global payment, and international transactions.

Zhejiang China Commodities City Group also signed import service agreements with Guangzhou Yuementong Trading Co and Deyang Development Holding Group to help enterprises open trade routes and links on Nov 6 during a sub-event of CIIE.

Yang Zhonghong, director of the Yiwu bureau of commerce, said that Yiwu has participated in every CIIE since 2018 and takes the event as an important platform for promoting the development of Yiwu's international trade and presenting Yiwu as a world-class trade hub.

The Yiwu Trading Delegation, which consists of more than 1,500 shopkeepers at the Yiwu Small Commodity City, went to Shanghai on Nov 5 with a total purchase intention of up to $300 million, according to Yang.

Official data showed that Yiwu's imports jumped from 2.36 billion yuan ($325.52 million) in 2013 to 24.39 billion yuan in 2021, and the amount is expected to exceed 40 billion yuan in 2022.

Zhejiang China Commodities City Group signs a deal during a sub-event of CIIE on Nov 6. [Photo/zgyww.cn]