On November 10, the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE) closed in Shanghai.

As a globally recognized economic and trade event, this year's expo once again attracted the attention of enterprises and investors worldwide.

Unlike other exhibitions, the CIIE is the world's first national-level expo focused on imports.

So, what kind of "buyer" is Anhui?

Anhui is a buyer that knows how to purchase: technology and equipment account for about 60% of its procurement demand.

Anhui is a buyer with potential: more than 5,000 foreign-invested enterprises have settled in the province, including 192 Fortune Global 500 companies. The outward orientation and globalization of Anhui's industrial and supply chains have significantly enhanced, carrying the mission of developing an internationally competitive advanced manufacturing cluster.

Globalized industrial chains create global competitive advantages. To some extent, knowing how to buy gives a sense of “sophistication.”

Based on this, Anhui is set to become an increasingly active global buyer.

Procurement is the primary goal for Anhui's delegation at this expo.

This year, Anhui formed one provincial trading group, 16 city trading sub-groups, and 5 provincial trading sub-groups, with over 2,200 units and more than 6,200 people registered to attend.

“We’ve already met with several overseas merchants in the past few days,” said Zhang Bao, whose company mainly engages in cattle breeding and slaughter processing. They came to understand the inventory and slaughtering conditions of foreign exhibitors’ cattle to prepare for market supply during New Year's and Spring Festival. In less than three days since the expo opened, they have already made purchases exceeding $2 million.

Purchasing personnel from Anhui Five Stars Fruit are also actively searching for new fruit varieties at the expo. The company focuses on the full industry chain operation of high-end imported fruits and domestically produced fruits. “Through the expo, we secured the regional agency for Zespri, the New Zealand kiwifruit brand, as well as for Dole Food Company (USA) in Anhui, greatly enhancing our core competitiveness,” said company manager Chen Bingzheng.

In addition to imported food and consumer goods, from previous years’ trading data, technology and equipment, agricultural products, biomedicine, and service trade are also key areas for Anhui’s "buying team."

Statistics show that in the first six CIIEs, Anhui organized a total of 13,200 purchasing units and 41,500 personnel, with a cumulative procurement transaction amount of $12.32 billion.

More and more Anhui enterprises are preparing for upgrades and accumulating energy for development through their “buying” activities at the expo.

Source: Anhui Daily