My CIIE Story • Big Market: Integrating into China's high-quality development

Editor's Note: Preparations for the fifth China International Import Expo have entered the home stretch. Over the past five years, many foreign companies have developed greater confidence and increased their investments in China through the expo. Numerous organizations and individuals have gained memorable experiences during the fair and witnessed its spillover effects.

The CIIE Bureau and the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) launched the "My CIIE Story" activity on June 1. Some excellent works centered on "grand strategy" and "big market" were published in July and August.

Four years ago in 2018, I was the director of Evonik Resource Efficiency North Asia and participated in the inaugural edition of the CIIE in Shanghai. I was impressed by the quality of participating companies and the efficiency of business communication at the high-level trade fair.

Evonik, a multinational specialty chemicals company, displayed a wide range of products during the first CIIE. These products, which included specialty additives, high-performance polymers, and food ingredient, are used in multiple sectors such as automobile, architecture, and healthcare.

Due to the expo, we struck partnerships with many clients, among whom is an auto parts company which signed a deal related to automotive lightweight materials with us. The company has become one of Evonik's largest customers in the world in the resource efficiency segment and our cooperation has been expanded to include matters like the development of new products.

In addition to facilitating connections between Evonik and clients, the CIIE also offers us opportunities to become more involved into the high-quality development of the Chinese market. For example, green and low-carbon transition is presently key to China's high-quality growth. Many industries are focusing on green manufacturing and reducing their carbon footprint, and our clients want more environmentally friendly products.

As such, Evonik will showcase a series of innovative and sustainable chemical materials and solutions catered to the needs of Chinese enterprises during the fifth CIIE. We will also present several of our ongoing cutting-edge innovation projects.

We have realized through the CIIE that China has a huge market and a large group of potential customers. We are stepping up efforts to develop new products and increase production capacity to provide efficient solutions to our clients. We look forward to enhancing cooperation with Chinese governments and partners as well as making new friends at the CIIE.

The author is president of Evonik Greater China and director of smart materials division in the Asia Pacific region. He started to work for Degussa (former name of Evonik) in 2002 as a business analyst.