(Yicai Global) Nov. 8 -- The complex world trade tableau has not blunted US companies' keen interest in the China Import Expo.

Most of the 180 US companies taking part in the ongoing Shanghai trade fair congregate in the Automobile, High-End Intelligent Equipment and Consumer Electronics & Appliances booths. These American participants, including Qualcomm, General Electric (GE), Johnson & Johnson, General Motors, DuPont and many other top 500 multinational companies, are all led by their executives.

US fairgoers are not only bringing their featured products but have also chosen this the ongoing first China International Import Expo, whichruns from Nov. 5 until Nov. 10 atShanghai'sNational Convention & Exhibition Center, as the venue at which to stage their new product debuts.

Boston-based General Electric has adopted the theme of 'intelligence encounters machine' for its display at the expo. GE is showing its products and digital solutions in its six segments of power generation, aerospace, renewable energy, oil and gas, medical, and smart manufacturing.

A large crowd gathered at GE's booth before a giant jet engine model of the LEAP-1A. Hangzhou, Zhejiang province-based Loong Airlines, the first buyer at the expo, provided this model. The engine mainly powers the Airbus A320.

The model rarely shows at exhibitions, GE's booth leader told Yicai Global. "It was planned for delivery to Hangzhou but was 'intercepted halfway,' and changed its course to the expo, which shows GE's emphasis on the event," the booth leader added.

Yicai Global also noticed GE Healthcare's featured nuclear magnetic resonance machines. The Chinese and US healthcare sector are both very concerned that high-tech products such as these NMRs may fall martyr to China-US trade frictions.

GE has always striven for a fair and just free trade environment, said Rachel Duan, GE's deputy senior director and director and chief executive of GE China.

The diversified US tech innovation company 3M -- formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing -- has debuted several products at the expo. The company has inaugurated a breathing mask for children for the first time worldwide, said Stephen Shafer, the director of 3M's Chinese unit.

The face mask, specially designed for children from seven to 12 years old, not only enshrines the company's latest technology, but also improves comfort while ensuring filtration efficiency, and will thus be the finest safeguard for children's respiratory health, Shafer said.

The company's new car air purifiers, hearing protection products and formaldehyde-free car mat are also landing for the first time in China at the expo.

Tesla is exhibiting its three stars at the fair -- the Model S, Model X and Model 3 -- Yicai Global noticed, while Qualcomm is pushing its leading technologies, product portfolios and solutions such as fifth-generation wireless communications, artificial intelligence, mobile smart terminals, Internet of Cars, and Internet of Things, as well as major other achievements made in many fields with Chinese partners.

DuPont, the world's largest chemical company, is setting out an array of products that relate to daily life at the expo, such as smart clothing able to measure heartbeats and respiratory rates and suitcases made from Kevlar materials (mainly used on a body armor).The company's display also features a new suitcase. The audience let out an exclamation of surprise upon learning the 20-inch valise weighs a mere 1.68 kilogram -- only half that of conventional products on the market.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes' 787 Dreamliner simulator has seized the limelight in the High-End Intelligent Equipment exhibition area where visitors lines up to try out the jet simulacrum.

These eye-catching new products demonstrate US companies long-lasting confidence in China's opening.

DuPont will present its new positioning in China and announce its next step in the Chinese market at the expo and will discuss with old and new customers how to change their lives through innovation, Zhang Yi, director of DuPont's Chinese unit, told Yicai Global.

China is currently the largest market for GE outside the US. It is also an important growth engine for the company's future development, Duan said. "Looking ahead, we hold faith in China's overall economic progress," she added.

The firm must achieve full localization in future in China, not only in business and market applications, but also in product development, manufacturing and services and all operations, Duan told Yicai Global. The company hopes to forge an alliance with its Chinese customers and partners that can expand worldwide from the country, and speed digitalization, she said.

The rapidly emerging middle class and its high demand for e-commerce have lit up China's import demand, infusing more vigor into companies and offering them business opportunities, as well as imposing more stringent demands for the reliability and timeliness of logistics services, Ross McCullough, director of United Parcel Service's Asia Pacific regional office, told Yicai Global.

UPS will help companies intending to sell their products to China and also provide flexible import and export logistics services for Chinese companies, McCullough stated.

UPS is steadily adding transfer stations between China and Europe and keeps upgrading rail freight services to actively answer the call of China's Belt and Road initiative. The company currently has 225 operations in China, with over 220 flights per week plying between its transfer hubs of Shenzhen and Shanghai, McCullough said.

FedEx, another big US logistics service provider, moved a Boeing 777 all-cargo model into the exhibition area and set up a virtual reality experiential area for Chinese visitors to feel the busy and efficient operations at the company's super transit center in Memphis, Tennessee.

The expo is another major demonstration of China's opening of its market to the world and promoting trade exchanges, Eddy Chan, deputy senior director of FedEx, told Yicai Global. The country will not only be an exporting power, but also a strong importing country in future, and this will create many opportunities for logistics companies, while also lowering their operating costs, Chan added.

"We will up our investment in China, open more routes to serve it, and increase service outlets in third- and fourth-tier cities in the country. We will customize our products to meet the needs of different customers, as well as intensifying the training of local staff to support our long-term development," he said.

In the high-level exchanges between China and US, Boeing Commercial Airplanes has sought to help policymakers understand the mutual benefit of cooperation in the aviation industry and it looks forward to reconciling any divergent views the two sides may hold through effective talks. No matter which way external relations go, the company wants everyone to know of its promise to keep investing in China, John Bruns, director of Boeing's China unit, told Yicai Global.

Boeing has made more than 50 percent of China's current operating civilian jets. The company delivered 153 aircraft to China in the first three quarters, and its annual deliveries have exceeded 140 for six straight years.

Editor: Ben Armour