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.

The China International Import Expo established an eco-friendly, smart home appliances committee on Thursday in a bid to facilitate production and consumption upgrades in the industry.

Eleven companies joined the committee as founding members. US-based Bosch Siemens Household Goods (BSH) was appointed the first chairman of the committee while Japanese electronics giant Panasonic was appointed the first vice chairman.

"The committee is dedicated to boosting cooperation among enterprises, industrial innovation and development, which will drive production and consumption upgrades of green, smart home appliances," said Ma Fengmin, financial director of the CIIE Bureau.

China has been actively exploring ways to foster green development over the past decades. According to an announcement issued by the Ministry of Commerce and 12 other departments earlier this year, the country is encouraging firms in the home appliance industry to enhance green development in areas such as raw material procurement, production, packaging and transportation.

Alexander Dony, president of BSH Greater China, said that all the company's factories, research and development centers and offices around the world had achieved carbon neutrality by the end of 2020.

"It is our social responsibility to help the sustainable development of the home appliance industry and improve the life quality of consumers," Dony said.

Zhao Bingdi, president of Panasonic China, said the company has always paid attention to producing energy-saving products and utilizing renewable energy.

"We'll deepen exchanges and share insights with more firms in the industry," Zhao said.