An aerial view shows volunteers posing amid the decorations at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, the venue for the 3rd CIIE. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

Shanghai is ready to welcome people to the upcoming third China International Import Expo, to be held from Nov 5 to 10.

The National Convention and Exhibition Center (Shanghai) has served 33 exhibitions, with a total of nearly 2.5 million visitors since July, and operations were stable and orderly with no new COVID-19 cases reported, said Sun Chenghai, deputy director-general of the CIIE Bureau.

Currently, the center has implemented closed management to ensure the health and epidemic prevention safety of participants, goods and venues in accordance with the overall epidemic prevention and control plan.

This year, the exhibition area has set 77 fixed catering points, 3 temporary points and 19 food cars to provide Chinese and foreign cuisine, Shanghai snacks as well as halal and vegetarian meals, organizers said.

In order to ensure safety during the COVID-19 prevention control period, the center has added a public dining area, carried out a time-sharing dining system, and strengthened control of the dining environment, all supported by technologies like mobile internet, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and big data. The supervision department will enhance the novel coronavirus nucleic acid test in the food cold chain.

Shanghai has announced a list of 11,151 hotels with 192,000 beds, and provided efficient service on checking in that can, according to the city, "find a hotel in 10 seconds and check in within 30".

Moreover, the city has appointed 33 designated hospitals for the event. Five medical stations will be set up at the exhibition site, together with 12 ambulances, 25 temporary observation and treatment sites, as well as nearly 400 medical workers.