The seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE), which will be held from Nov 5 to 10 in Shanghai, is seeing its preparation progressing smoothly, expecting more extensive participation of companies, nations, international organizations and buyers, said the organizer Wednesday during a news briefing in Shanghai.

The Country Exhibition of this year's CIIE will highlight the achievements in bilateral cooperation, and has seen participation from five continents. To date, over 50 nations and international organizations have confirmed their participation, among which Norway, Benin, Burundi and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will join for the first time, said Sun Chenghai, deputy director-general of the CIIE Bureau — organizer of the expo.

The Business Exhibition of this year's expo will continue to consist of six exhibition areas like the previous editions, covering food and agricultural products, automobiles, intelligent industry and information technology, consumer goods, medical equipment and healthcare products, as well as trade in services. An innovation incubation special section, and a new special area for new materials will be featured at the same time.

Over 150 companies will be joining in the CIIE for the seventh consecutive year, while new exhibitors including Mitsubishi Corporation, NTT, Nippon Paint, Invista, Alstom and Aptiv, will make their CIIE debut this November. Up to date, a total business exhibition area of over 360,000 square meters has been signed up, said Sun.

On the buyer side, more registration options and matchmaking sessions and services will be provided to help connect them to exhibitors, said Sun.

The seventh Hongqiao International Economic Forum (HQF), part of the CIIE, unveiled its theme and topics during the news briefing as well. Themed "High-Standard Opening-up for Universally Beneficial and Inclusive Economic Globalization", this year's HQF will mainly focus on opening-up in various sectors including development, cooperation, innovation and sharing. The World Openness Report 2024 will be released, and a slew of sessions will take place during the expo, according to the CIIE Bureau.