CIIE 2018—China’s First Import Expo

In November, 2018 Avela was at the China International Import Expositionheld in Shanghai. First announced in May 2016, it was a long-planned trade showcase opening with a public relations extravaganza featuring the likes of Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Microsoft’sBill Gates.

It was clearly an effort by the Chinese President Xi Jinping‘s government to demonstrate that it was opening up access to the vast China market to the West and other regions. An underlying goal was surely to counter ill will stemming from undeniably one-sided trade policies in the past, but the fact is that the country now has a huge middle class consuming products at a rate and of a kind that China can’t satisfy internally.

This creates tremendous trade opportunitiesfor large and medium businesses that previously were, or felt, shut out from the market. With offices in Houston and Shanghai since 2002, Avela Consulting has organically built up a network of relationships with Chinese firms capable of negotiating the labyrinth of regulatory, financial, cultural and media issues that have been barriers in the past.

Was CIIE 2018 a success? It is too early to tell. According to government figures, it had over a million attendees from 172 countries regions and organizations during its six day run. 160,000 buyers from over 80,000 Chinese and foreign companies were on hand with 3,600 exhibitors. The official tally reports that over 57 billion USD in deals were sealed at the expo, although some of these may have been in the works before.

But there is much more to accessing the China market than just signing on the dotted line. As mentioned above, there are a labyrinth of issues and concerns to be navigated. Whether the deals signed at the expo included the level of support offered by Avela Consultants is not clear.

Any business considering approaching the China market should be armed with a feasibility study such as Avela Consulting provides. It presents a clear analysis of the multi-faceted landscape that is essential before stepping into the vast China market. We back it up with a hand-selected team of experts to execute a marketing strategy crafted specifically to our clients’ goals.

The CIIE was a lauded first step at opening the China market. As it matures as a venue it may be worthwhile for some Avela Consulting clients to have a presence at it or other fairs sure to crop up around the country. But an enterprising business needn’t wait for that to happen before seizing this early opportunity. Avela Consulting has the team and the tools to pave your way today!