EU COMPANIES NEED TO SEE TANGIBLE BUSINESS BENEFITS FROM 2023 CIIE Go back »

2023-11-03 | Shanghai

3^rd November 2023, Shanghai—A flash survey released today by the Shanghai Chapter of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China reveals that China’s ambitions for the China International Import Expo (CIIE) to attract foreign investment are at risk due to foreign businesses feeling  disillusioned by the limited benefits of participation.

The CIIE was inaugurated in 2018 and was warmly welcomed by the European business community. However, contrary to its ambitions of boosting China's global imports as a showcase of China’s internationalisation, the results have proven to be the opposite. Since the first edition of the CIIE, China’s trade surplus with Europe has increased significantly, resulting in the world's largest historical trade deficit of nearly 400 billion euros in 2022. Over the last five years, the modest increase of European exports has been dwarfed by the nearly doubling of China's exports to the EU.

Nevertheless, while misaligned with the original aims of the CIIE, 69 percent of attendees still believe that the CIIE lived up to their expectations in terms of marketing and meeting government officials. Members note that business deals on the whole have fallen by half since 2018, with only 24 percent of members closing deals last year. Although the majority of those who attended the 2022 CIIE will be returning this year, the expo is struggling to attract new participants. The survey also finds that potential newcomers feel indifferent towards the CIIE’s impact on market opening, while being plagued by prohibitively high costs and logistical headaches - essentially pricing out small businesses from attendance.

As Shanghai prepares for the sixth CIIE, the European Chamber hopes that the credibility of the CIIE can be restored by setting ambitious targets to boost EU exports and reduce the unsustainable EU-China trade deficit, while removing administrative barriers to encourage more participants in the future.

“The CIIE was originally intended as a showcase of China’s opening up and reform agenda, but it has proven to be largely smoke and mirrors so far” said Carlo D’Andrea, vice president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and chairman of the Shanghai Chapter. “European businesses are becoming disillusioned as symbolic gestures take the place of tangible results needed to restore business confidence.”

2023年11月 3日，上海 —— 中国欧盟商会上海分会今日发布的一项快速调查显示，由于外资企业对参加中国国际进口博览会（进博会）所取得的有限收益感到失望，中国寄希望于进博会吸引外资的雄心正面临挑战。

进博会于2018年首次举办，举办之初收到了欧洲商界的热烈欢迎。但事实证明，进博会并未成为促进全球进口、体现中国国际化水平的舞台。自首届进博会以来，中欧贸易顺差大幅增加，并于2022年达到近4000亿欧元全球历史最高水平。过去五年间，中国对欧盟出口几乎翻了一番，而欧盟对华出口相形见绌。

虽然进博会未能取得如描述中的预期效果，仍有69%的受访参展企业表示，参展进博会发挥了市场营销和与政府官员会见的作用。受访会员也指出，自2018年至今，进博会的整体意向成交量下降约一半，在去年展会期间仅24%的参展会员企业实现意向成交。尽管大部分去年参展的会员企业今年仍将继续参与，但进博会在吸引新展商方面举步维艰。调查还发现，关于进博会对中国市场开放具有的影响，潜在的新参展企业持冷漠态度。同时，高昂的参展费用和繁琐的后勤问题也让他们感到困扰 —— 这些因素将中小型企业基本拒之门外。

第六届进博会在上海开幕之际，中国欧盟商会希望，中国政府能采取措施促进欧盟对华出口、减少欧中贸易逆差，并努力消除行政壁垒，通过实现这些目标来帮助进博会在未来吸引更多企业的参与。

 “进博会最初被描述为展现中国改革开放进程的平台，但举办至今的实际情况表明，进博会在很大程度上只是一幅烟幕。” 中国欧盟商会副主席、上海分会主席代开乐（Carlo D'Andrea）指出，“只见象征性姿态，不见恢复商业信心所亟需的切实成果，欧洲企业对此倍感失望。”

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