A statue of Jinbao, the panda mascot of the China International Import Expo, stands in front of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), which serves as the venue of the CIIE. [Photo/Xinhua]

The China International Import Expo Bureau announced that the first batch of 160 exhibitors has confirmed its participation in the fourth edition of the annual expo scheduled in Shanghai from Nov 5 to 10 on March 10.

Sun Chenghai, deputy director-general of the CIIE Bureau, made the announcement during the CIIE exhibitor alliance council conference held in the city.

The expo will consist of the business exhibition, the Hongqiao international economic forum, the country exhibition and related activities.

New subsections for industries such as integrated circuits, bio-medicine and smart transportation will be included in this year's edition.

"This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the beginning of the14th Five-Year Plan for national economic and social development, representing a new journey to building a modern socialist country," Sun said at the conference.

"Under such circumstances, the fourth CIIE will be a critical move by the country to open its market to the world."

He said more demand-side resources will be gathered and communication between supply and demand sides will be improved to "better serve buyers and exhibitors and to build the CIIE into a global platform for advanced industries".

More than 40 CIIE-related activities will be organized throughout the year, according to Liu Fuxue, another deputy director-general of CIIE Bureau.

"Members from the CIIE exhibitor alliance will hold promotion activities in enterprises and industrial parks in domestic cities to drive local economic development," Liu said.

New special committees in areas including medical equipment, energy conservation and environmental protection will be launched, he added.

Liu Ying, vice president of government affairs of Volvo Car Asia Pacific, said the company will offer its best products, groundbreaking technologies, and unique brand culture to customers via the CIIE to drive the growth of the flourishing Chinese automobile market and the domestic economy.