By Katerina Nicolaou, reporting from Shanghai
Cypriot products are looking for a foothold in China at the country’s biggest import expo. The ninth China International Import Expo (CIIE), running in Shanghai from 5 to 10 November, has drawn 4,142 foreign companies. The Cypriot pavilion is showcasing food and drink.
Cyprus’s Ambassador to China, Koula Sofianou, thanked Chinese businesspeople for helping to promote Cypriot products in the Chinese market. She told Phileleftheros that the government’s message is that Cyprus combines an open economy with a strong services sector, quality products and a growing technology ecosystem.
A delegation from the Cyprus Information Technology Enterprises Association (CITEA), led by its president, Giorgos Malekkos, is also in Shanghai this year. Its presence, Sofianou said, “offers another opportunity to showcase Cyprus’s information and communications technology sector and to explore cooperation with Chinese companies.”
CIIE since 2018
Foreign firms want a share of the Chinese market. Beijing, for its part, wants to press a point of its own: China is not just the world’s factory, but a vast market open to foreign goods.
At the opening ceremony, Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang dismissed accusations that China is “squeezing out” other economies. “Some institutions and media outlets have been hyping up the so-called ‘China squeeze’ theory,” he said. “Such claims… are completely unfounded.”
He added: “We will continue to create favourable conditions for companies from around the world to develop their businesses in China.”
His speech centred on four priorities: widening trade opportunities by tapping China’s large market, deepening investment cooperation, strengthening innovation, and building mutual understanding and trust to lift trade barriers.
