SHANGHAI, Sept. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The 4^th China International Import Expo (CIIE), the world's largest import expo, will continue to be a mega show for the world's latest products, technologies and services, said organizers at the press conference marking the 50-day countdown to the expo on Sept 16.

Six major exhibition categories will be kept for this year's event, which will have an exhibition area exceeding 360,000 square meters as well as more exhibitors than last year, according to Zhou Lingyan, deputy general manager of the business exhibition division of the CIIE Bureau.

Over 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500 and industrial leading companies that participated in last year's expo will be present at this year's event, a testament to the expo's strong appeal.

Zhou said that the number of small and medium-sized enterprises are coming in groups to participate in this year's event, 30% higher than last year.

Trade agencies, such as those from Japan, Denmark, Poland and New Zealand, have all increased the size of their booths to house more small exhibitors. "The Central and Eastern Europe booth is more than 1,500 square meters and will feature 60 companies," Zhou said.

A total of 13 themed sections will be set up focusing on popular industries such as integrated circuits, public health and epidemic control, biological medicine and smart transportation, in line with the efforts to increase professionalism of the expo.

A section for innovation incubation will be set in the Intelligent Industry and Information Technology, Automobile and Medical Equipment & Healthcare Products exhibition areas, housing more than 100 exhibitors in the fields of artificial intelligence, life sciences and automatic driving.

A series of forums and other activities will be held during the expo to share entrepreneurship experience with startups, helping them gain easier access to the market.

Wang Hongwei, head of the buyers service division of the CIIE Bureau, said the division has held 17 roadshows over the past several months to introduce the expo to a wider range of businesses, and attracted more than 2,600 domestic companies.

Nearly 600 domestic groups of buyers will be attending this year's expo. Through data screening, invitations will be issued to 40,000 targeted buyers to the fourth CIIE.

The CIIE Bureau and Bank of China will hold large matchmaking conferences during the expo from Nov 6 to Nov 8, where one-on-one meetings will be arranged between buyers and exhibitors with services such as interpretation and video links.

In the past three years, the on-site matchmaking conferences have helped more than 3,000 exhibitors and 7,000 buyers reach deals or future cooperation agreements, said Liu Wei, general manager of the inclusive finance department at Bank of China's Shanghai branch.

This year, the exhibition will be held online with an offline experience zone in the North Hall of the venue, where visitors can use virtual reality devices to tour the online exhibition hall, said Cui Ying, director of the division of exhibitors recruitment of the CIIE Bureau.