(Yicai) Oct. 28 -- Next month’s China International Import Expo will highlight emerging consumption trends such as the “silver” and “ice-and-snow” economies, according to deputy director of the CIIE Bureau, the annual event’s organizer.

The “silver economy” theme, which focuses on products and services for the elderly, has expanded from the medical exhibition area to the consumer goods exhibition area this year, encouraging cross-sector collaboration, Wu Zhengping said at a press conference today.

Also, one of the CIIE’s six exhibition areas will be for medical devices and healthcare. The other five will focus on automobiles and smart mobility, technical equipment, consumer goods, agricultural and food products, and services, along with a dedicated innovation incubation zone.

This year’s event will also have a special area to introduce other new consumption themes and scenarios, such as innovative breakthroughs and the “ice-and-snow” economy, Wu noted.

The expo will set up a Cross-border E-commerce Preferred Platform and a Cross-border E-commerce Service Area as part of efforts to create new retail channels, Wu said, adding that the exhibition zone for African products will be expanded, to help less developed countries better access China’s zero-tariff market.

The world’s leading enterprises will gather at the CIIE, to be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10, including the top 10 global industrial electrical companies, the four largest grain traders, and multinational medical firms. Some leading businesses will also make their expo debut, Wu added.

The eighth CIIE will have 4,108 overseas exhibitors and the total exhibition area will be more than 430,000 square meters, a new record, Vice Commerce Minister Sheng Qiuping said today.

Editor: Tom Litting