I. Brief Introduction
China International Fair for Investment & Trade (hereinafter referred to as the CIFIT), hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, P.R.C., is held annually during Sept. 8th-11th in Xiamen, China. It has committed to constructing a platform of bilateral investment promotion, authoritative information release and investment trend discussion, and has developed into one of the most influential international investment events in the world. In recent years, each session of the CIFIT received professional participants from governmental departments, official investment promotion agencies, business associations and multinational corporations from more than 100 countries and regions. Additionally, government officials from over a hundred cities of 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China also organize large-scale participation every year. Over 1,000 business delegations with nearly 5,000 companies and 50,000 business professionals attend.
The 24th CIFIT is scheduled to be held in Xiamen during Sept. 8th- 11th, 2024. Themed on "Further expanding bilateral investment, Jointly facilitating global development", the event this year will continue to focus on the Global Development Initiative, high-quality "Invest in China" and "Chinese Investment", and multilateral and bilateral cooperation framework. It will highlight such heated topics as green and low-carbon development, digital economy, and sustainable development. The CIFIT will also play a positive role in building an international public service platform facilitating two-way investment, promoting greater openness and investment among countries, and contributing to constructing an open world economy.
CIFIT organizes 3 pillar activities: exhibition, thematic activities, and B2B matchmaking. featuring investment promotion exhibitions, thematic activities themed on investment hotspots, and project matchmaking. CIFIT not only comprehensively showcases and introduces the investment climate, investment policies, investment projects of most provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, and the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions of China, but also attracts governments and investment promotion agencies from countries and regions to set up exhibitions and hold investment promotional events. Participants from home and abroad can thoroughly get acquaintance with investment climate of various regions in China and other countries and regions with minimal time and effort, obtain the latest investment policies and information from the most direct channels, and choose the most suitable investment projects and partners from the widest range.
II. CIFIT as Three Platforms
President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to CIFIT on its 20th session, speaking highly of CIFIT’s role as three platforms: bilateral investment promotion platform, authoritative information release platform, investment trend discussion platform, and raised his expectation for CIFIT to be a more international, professional and branded event.
1. Bilateral Investment Promotion Platform
CIFIT is a window of China's reform and opening up, with each session featuring exhibitors from over 50 countries and regions, delegations from more than 100 countries and regions, and over 100,000 professional visitors. The event focuses on showcasing and introducing the latest investment environment, investment policies, investment projects of China and its provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. It serves as an excellent stop for foreign investors to gain a comprehensive understanding of China's investment policies, obtain key project construction information, and choose ideal investment projects and partners. It provides a platform for foreign companies to enter China, while also creating opportunities for Chinese enterprises to invest abroad. Over the past decades, more than 200 countries and regions around the world have participated at CIFIT, resulting in the signing of over 30,000 projects and bringing more than $300 billion into China, while many Chinese enterprises have embarked on their journey to the world from here.
2. Authoritative Information Release Platform
Each session of CIFIT attracts investment promotion agencies and government investment institutions from over 50 countries and regions, with Chinese provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions promoting their local investment environment, policies, and projects. Countries such as South Africa, Malaysia, Italy, Georgia, Bahrain, Serbia, and the Philippines have participated as guest countries of honor. Countries like Australia, the United States, Jordan, Japan, South Korea, India, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Sweden, Poland, Belgium, Denmark have hosted various promotion activities.
Each year, authoritative institutions such as the MOFCOM, UNCTAD, and UNIDO release various authoritative reports such as World Investment Report (Chinese Edition) and the National Development Report of Chinese Enterprises during CIFIT to provide guidance to companies in China to explore the overseas markets.
3. Investment Trend Discussion Platform
Focusing on development strategies, CIFIT hosts International Investment Forum to discuss investment trends, inviting both domestic and foreign political leaders, heads of international economic organizations, experts and scholars, CEOs of multinational corporations, and notable leaders of central state-owned enterprises and private enterprises to attend the forums, offering valuable insights and sharing investment wisdom.
Apart from the International Investment Forum, various high-level forums and seminars centered on "Invest in China" and "China Investment" are organized every year, focusing on global investment hotspots and international economic trends. Hundreds of guests from around the world are invited to deliver remarkable speeches and engage in discussions.