Alliance creation shows commitment

An enterprise alliance council and two professional committees of the China International Import Expo were formed on Sunday, showing multinational companies' commitment to becoming more deeply rooted in the Chinese market.

The third CIIE public health and epidemic prevention committee and the dairy industry committee held their launch ceremonies in Shanghai.

Up to 50 companies have signed up for this year's CIIE health and epidemic prevention event, which will be held in a 10,000-square-meter exhibition area in the city. Forty of the 50 are Fortune 500 companies. Another 10,000 square meters of space will be occupied by food and agriculture exhibitors, with dairy companies booking a third of that.

Also on Sunday, 35 global industry leaders and the CIIE organizer signed a three-year memorandum of understanding on cooperation.

French cosmetics giant L'Oreal was elected as the first rotating chair of the enterprise alliance council for this year.

The company's China CEO, Fabrice Megarbane, said the alliance will help develop synergies to strengthen exhibitors. While international trade and commerce has been impaired by the COVID-19 pandemic, the CIIE exhibition will fuel global economic development, he said.

Liu Fuxue, deputy head of the CIIE bureau, said the alliance will forge closer ties among exhibitors, which is important as the global economy faces new challenges due to the pandemic.

Global market consultancy Accenture, which is also a member of the enterprise alliance, will debut at the CIIE this year. It aims to support the Chinese government and businesses in accelerating their transformation, the company's Greater China chairman, said Zhu Wei.