(Yicai) Sept. 18 -- About 3,000 enterprises have signed up to participate in the sixth China International Import Expo, which will be held in Shanghai between Nov. 5 and Nov. 10.

Among the around 3,000 companies that will attend the CIIE, 400 will be taking part for at least the second time, Fang Hui, general manager of the expo, said at the press conference on Sept. 15. The exhibition area will cover over 360,000 square meters, he added.

The low-carbon energy and environmental protection technology section in the intelligent industry and information technology exhibition area will be the biggest ever, while the sections for digital industrial automation and integrated circuits will be expanded.

Products such as Swedish firm Alfa Laval's new hydrogen fuel cell heat exchanger, Danish company Grundfos' new energy-saving pump motor, and German glassmaker Schott's specialty glass will debut at this year's CIIE.

Schott will bring more than half of its new products, including the Zerodur glass-ceramic used in the world's largest optical telescope, to the CIIE this year, Chief Executive Officer Frank Heinricht said.

The automobile exhibition area, which will gather the world's top 15 carmakers, will feature the Asian debut of General Motors' hybrid sports car and Porsche's pure electric sports car concept. Vertical take-off and landing aircraft and robots that can drive motorcycles and motorboats will also be exhibited.

More than 1,000 enterprises from 100 countries and regions will attend the food and agricultural products exhibition area, the highest figures among all exhibition areas. Ecuadorian yellow dragon fruits, the Philippines' Gold Puyat durians, and Beninese pineapples will also make an appearance.

In the consumer goods exhibition area, Panasonic, Bosch Home Appliances, and other leading enterprises will introduce their home appliances, while Nobilia and other home furnishing firms will display their whole house space design and intelligence network systems.

Many global galleries will also exhibit cultural artifacts at the CIIE for the first time.

The delegation of overseas business associations will also be a highlight of the event, as the number of organizations and companies of the delegation, as well as their exhibition area, will increase by 50 percent, 20 percent, and 35 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

On Sept. 15, the signing ceremony for the seventh CIIE was also held. Twenty-five firms, including GE Medical, Bayer, Zespri, Cargill, and Panasonic, signed exhibition contracts or memoranda of cooperation for a total exhibition area of over 10,000 sqm for the next edition of the CIIE.

The exhibitor application for the seventh CIIE started in June. The contracted exhibition area has exceeded 40,000 sqm so far.

Editor: Futura Costaglione