Representatives from automobile companies set to participate in the third China International Import Expo meet potential buyers and service companies at a pre-expo matchmaking session on Aug 28, 2020. [Photos by Qiu Pengqiang for chinadaily.com.cn]

The pre-expo matchmaking session for service and automobile companies participating in the third China International Import Expo was held in Shanghai on Friday.

International big names in the two sectors, such as Volkswagen, Ford and KPMG, attended the session to meet domestic buyers, including China National Petroleum Corporation, State Grid and SAIC Motor.

Liu Fuxue, deputy director-general of the CIIE bureau, said holding the third edition of the expo will play a positive role in stimulating consumption, ensuring stability in foreign trade and investment as well as security in supply chains.

"The CIIE is a link for 'dual circulation' in which domestic and foreign markets can boost each other, and a platform for companies to turn challenge into opportunity," he said.

The report on the retailing market delivered by Tao Rongrong, director of KPMG's Trade & Customs Services, echoed Liu's view.

It said retailing in China has been rebounding fast since April as COVID-19 has been largely controlled in the country, but companies should adapt to new trends such as the accelerated rise of purchases made on internet platforms.

The offline business environment in China is also recovering. Luke Moffat, regional managing director of CBRE, a commercial real estate services firm scheduled to attend the expo, said their office occupier survey shows 71 percent of the respondents in China expect the business environment to improve or remain stable in the second half of the year.

He said shopping mall foot traffic in China has reached 80 percent of the pre-pandemic levels in May, and in prime properties the figure rose to above 90 percent.

As people going to offline stores are paying more attention to hygiene, Swiss third-party testing and inspection company SGS said they will showcase their service on hygiene control and management, which can evaluate a store's sanitation condition as fast as five minutes.

Smart vehicles are gaining momentum in China, as self-driving taxis are taking pilot runs this year in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

The CIIE bureau said it will set up an intelligent transportation sector in the automobile exhibition, and companies will display their new technologies and products such as vehicle sensors and control systems.