The 2020 China Brand Day opens an online exhibition from May 10 to 12, with the Shanghai hall attracting 123 local brands to highlight online businesses and the three local strategic emerging industries of integrated circuit, artificial intelligence, and biomedicine. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn]

The 2020 China Brand Day opened an online exhibition from May 10 to 12, with the Shanghai hall attracting 123 local brands to highlight online businesses and the three local strategic emerging industries of integrated circuits (IC), artificial intelligence (AI), and biomedicine.

The theme carries forward the development pattern of Shanghai last year, which saw more than 100 key projects being signed and settled, and hence helped local brands grow and prosper.

For example, 26 computed tomography (CT) machines developed by United Imaging, which feature automatic precise positioning and auxiliary diagnosis, were sent to makeshift hospitals in Wuhan, Hubei province, during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Shanghai's online businesses were also vibrant and have yielded tangible results in the first few months of this year. As for Dingdong Grocery, an online shopping mobile app, orders during the Spring Festival holiday grew three-fold and the rate of new users increased by 200 percent over the same period last year.

Various methods were used to attract more online viewers, such as cooperating with new media platforms such as TikTok, Tencent and Bilibili, inviting viewers to play virtual reality games to increase their understanding of local brands, and hosting livestreaming sales on the Tmall online shopping platform to stimulate consumer spending.

Statistics show that the online edition attracted over 50 million viewers, far greater than the average 60,000 visitors to brick-and-mortar exhibitions in previous years.

Shanghai will continue to focus on its services, manufacturing industry, shopping climate and culture, and aims to develop a group of renowned companies, masters, teachers, doctors, exhibitions and conferences.

It will on one hand improve its supportive policies and seek more pragmatic results, and on the other hand eye key and high-end industries with the aim of generating more growth and developing the city into a hub for renowned brands.