A total of 5,636 companies and institutions from Shandong province are attending the third China International Import Expo, which is being held from Nov 5-10 in Shanghai.

According to the Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce, Shandong has sent one provincial-level trading delegation and 16 trading groups from the province's prefecture-level cities to the expo. Additionally, two groups from the Health Commission of Shandong and the Shandong Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission are also attending.

The province will host a special event during the expo on Nov 6 to promote exchanges and cooperation with Fortune Global 500 companies.

The National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) serves as the venue for the CIIE. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The "Shandong in Dialogue with Fortune Global 500 on High-quality Industrial Chains Cooperation and Development" event, hosted by the Shandong Provincial People's Government, will invite industry giants such as Bosch, Caterpillar, Liebherr, General Electric, Qualcomm, Siemens and Panasonic to have in-depth talks with local enterprises.

Sixty time-honored brands from Shandong are also being featured at the expo to display Shandong's unique culture to visitors. These brands cover arts and crafts, gourmet food, traditional Chinese medicine, apparel and accessories, wine and condiments.

As the world's first import-themed national-level expo, the CIIE plays a vital role in advancing the opening-up process, supporting economic globalization and building an open world economy.

Official statistics show that tentative deals worth about $57.83 billion and $71.13 billion were reached at the previous two editions, respectively.

This year, about 112,000 organizations and 400,000 participants from around the world are attending the expo. It is hoped the CIIE will help boost the recovery of the global economy, which has been badly battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.