The CIIE logo and mascot Jinbao are showcased at a news conference in \r\nShanghai in this July 27, 2018 file photo. [Photo by Yang \r\nYang/chinadaily.com.cn]

More than 70 percent of the exhibition area of the fourth China \r\nInternational Import Expo has already been spoken for, its organizer \r\nsaid on the 200-day countdown on April 18.

Sun Chenghai, deputy director-general of the CIIE Bureau, said the \r\nannual expo for imports has been given the green light for Nov 5 to 10 \r\nin Shanghai, and preparations for it are proceeding smoothly.

"Intended deals worth more than $200 billion were reached by \r\ninternational exhibitors and domestic buyers in the past three editions \r\nof the expo," Sun said at the countdown ceremony.

"We will continue to make the expo a window for the dural-circulation\r\n development paradigm and a platform for global procurement and \r\ninvestment, cultural exchange and open cooperation," he said.

Gu Jun, director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, said \r\nthe municipal government has always listed preparation for the expo \r\namong its main jobs, and it has formed an overall plan with 216 detailed\r\n tasks in areas such as epidemic prevention for this year's expo.

More than 30 companies and foreign trade promotion agencies, \r\nincluding Korea International Trade Association and German Chamber of \r\nCommerce, signed agreements for long-term cooperation with the CIIE \r\nBureau on the event.

Guiliano Menassi, CEO of Pirelli Asia Pacific Region, an Italian tire\r\n manufacturer, said the company's headquarters in Milan sees the Chinese\r\n market as very important, especially since China is upgrading its \r\nconsumption of high-value and sustainable products.

"The CIIE is a golden platform to strengthen economic cooperation, \r\npromoting global trade and world economic growth," he said, adding that \r\nthe company will double its exhibition area and bring its latest \r\ntechnology to this year's expo.

"Without a doubt, the expo will be a big success for all the \r\ncompanies that participate and have tremendous, advanced ideas to \r\nshare," Menassi said.

After the countdown began, a matchmaking session with domestic buyers\r\n and around 20 exhibitors in the healthcare, equipment and services \r\nsectors was held in Shanghai's Qingpu district, where the expo venue is \r\nlocated.

CBRE Group, a commercial real estate services and investment firm \r\nbased in the United States, said the company reached 20 deals and \r\nmemorandums of understanding with clients and local governments in its \r\nfirst participation in the expo last year.

"The spillover effect of the CIIE is big and real, as we followed up \r\nthe business leads made during the expo, landing projects in Shanghai, \r\nBeijing and in Xi'an, Shaanxi province and Wuhan, Hubei province," said \r\nLi Ling, president of CBRE China.

"There are lots of opportunities in China, as the country launched \r\nthe dual-circulation development paradigm, and we have already started \r\nto prepare for this year's CIIE," he said.