A photo taken on Nov 4, 2019 shows Jinbao, the mascot of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), at the south square of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), a main venue of the second CIIE in Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]

More than 7,900 companies and business organizations in Shandong province have registered to attend the second edition of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), which is being held in Shanghai from Nov 5 to 10.

According to statistics from the Shandong Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the Shandong delegation to the CIIE consists of more than 21,000 people from the province's 16 cities, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and provincial departments.

A number of the province's key SOEs will attend, including Shandong Lucion Investment Holdings Group, Weichai Power, one of China's largest diesel engine manufacturers, Yankuang Group, Shandong province's largest state-owned coal company, and Inzone Group, a Shandong-based retail giant.

Large private companies in the province, such as Dongming Petrochemical Group, Rizhao Steel Holding Group, and Linglong Tire, will also make an appearance at the event.

Shandong will also host a special event on Nov 6 to promote the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the China-SCO Local Economic Cooperation Demonstration Zone in Qingdao.

About 300 people are expected to attend the promotional event, including 180 foreigners from multinational companies and economic trade sectors.

The CIIE is the largest import expo in the world. Official statistics show that the first CIIE concluded with more than $57.8 billion in deals signed.

This year, the event is even larger in scale than before, and it is expected to inject new vitality into China's ongoing reform and opening-up, said Wang Bingnan, the vice-minister of commerce.

According to the China International Import Expo Bureau, many exhibitors that participated in the first CIIE have signed up for the event again this year. The bureau said that more than 250 Fortune Global 500 companies are attending the second CIIE, and the business exhibition area has been expanded to more than 330,000 square meters.