The 7th Hongqiao International Economic Forum (HQF) will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) from Nov 5th to 10th. Themed "High-Standard Opening up for Universally Beneficial and Inclusive Economic Globalization", the forum will feature discussions on building an open global economy and a community with a shared future for mankind, inviting globally renowned leaders in politics, international organizations, business, and academia.

Highlight I: A global vision for world hot issues

This year's forum focuses on hot topics such as climate change, the Global South, the 30th anniversary of the WTO, international cooperation on standards, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and consumption upgrading. These topics, covering major issues, including new quality productive forces, high-standard opening up, new industrialization, and debut economy, touch on both macro-level planning and cutting-edge industrial practices. They reinforce the forum's commitment to facilitating global opening up, improving global economic governance, and playing its role as an international public product, contributing wisdom to global opening up and development. To choose the right topics, the forum launched consultation worldwide including the United Nations system (New York, Geneva, Vienna), Southern Africa and Japan to seek opinions across the board. The permanent representatives to the UN of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Uganda (G77 Chairman), Cuba, and Nicaragua, as well as representatives of international organizations, including the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the International Trade Centre all acknowledged the contribution of China International Import Expo (CIIE) and HQF to economic globalization, South-South cooperation, and the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and offered valuable opinions for the forum's topic selection.

Highlight II: Leading figures sharing professional views

The forum invites pundits of various fields from home and abroad, including representatives of governments and international organizations, business leaders, and leading scholars for in-depth dialogues. Among the potential guests are top scholars such as Nobel laureates in Economic Sciences Sir Christopher Antoniou Pissarides and Eric Stark Maskin, Nobel laureates in Chemistry Michael Levitt and Sir Michael Stanley Whittingham, Turing Award winner Joseph Sifakis, Fields Medal winner Hugo Duminil-Copin, Professor Zheng Yongnian, Dean of Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Zhang Yuyan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Professor Ning Gaoning of Peking University; Senior officials of international organizations including Pedro Manuel Moreno, Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD and Fatou Haidara, Deputy to the Director General and Managing Director of the Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations of UNIDO; Global executives of enterprises such as AstraZeneca, 3M, Danone, L'Oréal, HSBC, BHP Group Limited, PepsiCo Inc., Rio Tinto Group, Louis Dreyfus Company, Cargill, Asia Pulp & Paper Co.，Ltd., Qualcomm, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Savencia and BMW, leaders of Chinese enterprises such as Bank of China, ICBC, COSCO Shipping, China Pacific Insurance, Wuliangye Yibin, Bank of Communications, the Export–Import Bank of China, and Honor Device.

Highlight III: Upgraded interactions across various channels

The CIIE & HQF Gala, a networking session prior to the opening ceremony, will be upgraded to create an exclusive networking opportunity that gathers guests from political, business and academic communities and facilitates the exploration of trade and investment opportunities. Guest list of the opening ceremony will be updated in a timely manner to facilitate connection and mainstream media outlets will be invited to engage in discussions and spark inspiration. Meanwhile, a dedicated section for the HQF will be available on the CIIE APP and mini program. The APP launches a new appointment feature that provides one-stop services including forum registration, information search, and guest interactions, to facilitate social engagement. Additionally, this year's forum will introduce new interactive sessions, including VIP room communications before meetings, Q&A sessions during the meetings, and small-scale discussions after the meetings. These enhancements aim to foster extended dialogue and improve interactions between guests as well as between guests and the audience.

Highlight IV: Unveiling groundbreaking research findings

The World Openness Report 2024 and the latest World Openness Index will be released. As the flagship publication of the HQF, the World Openness Report has been issued for three consecutive years, receiving strong recognition and gaining increasing influence. It is moving towards the direction of the key indicator of global openness, China's high-standard opening up, and the authoritative brand of the HQF. Meanwhile, several government agencies and international organizations plan to publish reports, proposals, roadmaps and other results at the HQF, including the UNCTAD's Trade and Development Report 2024 (first release in China), the UNIDO's Industrial Development Report 2024 (first release in China), National Standards in Foreign Languages and International Standardization Roadmap for Smart Manufacturing by Standardization Administration of China, 2024 Index of Chinese City Capacity to Actively Respond to Population Aging by State Information Center of China, Silver Economy: Shared Well-Being for All — 2024 Global Silver Economy Research Report by Fudan Institute on Aging, Sustainable Trade in the Context of Global Climate Change by the Center for China & Globalization, Opportunities and Challenges for Youth in Technological Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Economic Globalization by Taihe Institute, cooperation initiative co-published by nine pilot free-trade zones along the Yangtze River economic belt, BRBR Initiative to Accelerate the Digital Transformation of Inclusive Finance and ChinaBond-ICBC Selected Bond Indices themed "the five major articles" by ICBC.

Highlight V: Innovative integration of the Forum and the Expo

Activities such as sub-forums at the booths and guest group visits are introduced to fully leverage the forum's unique advantage of being held at the same time as the CIIE. A subforum "Gathering Global Quality Consumption Resources and Promoting Consumption Upgrading" will be held at the CIIE consumer goods section, with industrial experts, HQF members, and CIIE enterprise alliance members engaging in dialogues and discussions. In addition, a subforum "The Future of Global New Energy Vehicles" will invite guests to visit the CIIE automobile section for industrial exchanges. The innovation of scenarios and modes not only promotes the combination of expo and forum, but also drives discussions deeply integrate with industry attention, creating a professional, high-quality, and diversified forum exchange experience.

Highlight VI: Vital help from professional partners

A series of sub-forums will be held at the HQF in a joint effort with Chinese government departments including the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, State Administration for Market Regulation, Standardization Administration of China, and National Medical Products Administration, as well as international organizations such as UNCTAD, UNIDO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United Nations Population Fund, and UNICEF. Meanwhile, some of the sub-forums will be held in partnership with professional media outlets and think tanks including Xinhuanet, Economic Information Daily, The Paper, the CAS Institutes of Science and Development, the Center for China and Globalization, and the Taihe Institute. These professional organizers ensure the world-class standard and overall quality of the forum.

Highlight VII: Intensive exposure supported by mainstream media

The HQF partners in media outlets will offer full coverage on the forum before, during, and after the event. There will be ongoing releases on important guests and promotional videos before the event. Mainstream media will be invited to the waiting room for communications at the opening ceremony, interviewing major guests by appointment or at random, to increase exposure. Meanwhile, major media will be invited to cover the sub-forums in the form of real-time photo sharing, feature story, and promotion. Some sub-forums will be made into TV programs. Results of the forum and short videos of guests' opinions during the sub-forums will be updated constantly on the CIIE official website for more extensive exposure.

To explore more beyond the seven highlights, please sign up for the 7th Hongqiao International Economic Forum at the CIIE APP, mini-program, and website (forum.ciie.org).

Hongqiao International Economic Forum (hereinafter referred to as HQF) is held simultaneously with the China International Import Expo (CIIE). Under the theme of "High-Standard Opening up for Universally Beneficial and Inclusive Economic Globalization", the 7th HQF features the main forum (the opening ceremony of the CIIE and HQF), and 19 parallel sessions under "1+4" sections, i.e. the Press Release and International Symposium on the World Openness Report 2024 (including the World Openness Index) and parallel sessions under Opening-up for Development, Opening-up for Cooperation, Opening-up for Innovation and Opening-up for Sharing. Meanwhile, close-door meetings, including roundtables for foreign-funded enterprises, and promotional activities related to "Invest in China" will be held at the 7th HQF.