(Yicai Global) Feb. 27 -- Four Fortune 500 companies signed up to participate yesterday in the 3rd China International Import Expo.

France's tire maker The Michelin Group and baking product supplier Lesaffre & Co., Japan's largest medicine maker Takeda Pharmaceutical and its printer and imaging equipment manufacturer Seiko Edson all enrolled in a live video conference for the event slated to start in November.     

"It looks from this point as if the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic on recruitment of commercial exhibitors for the 3rd China International Import Expo will be limited," said  Zhou Lingyan, deputy general manager of the CIIE exhibition department of the National Exhibition and Convention Center Shanghai. More than half of the planned exhibition space is already claimed under contract, and over 1,000 firms have already signed on to participate, with the overall pace of enrollment much quicker than at this same point in the first two fairs. 

Of these exhibitors, Michelin, US pharma firm Abbott Laboratories, CBRE, a Canadian real estate service provider, and commercial services supplier Orix USA will all be first-time attendees at this year's exhibition.  

Michelin's debut appearance at this year's gala will support China's economic growth, said Kamran Vossoughi, president of Michelin China. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus is still hugely affecting the world economy and a platform such as the CIIE is urgently needed to restore it and bolster confidence. Michelin hopes to play a key part in the course of this recovery, Vossoughi added.

Companies at the fair will view a range of innovative products in the areas of tumors, rarely-seen diseases, digestion and neuroscience, said Guohong Shan, area head of Takeda China. "We plan to have five innovative medicines come onto the market in five years," he added.

The current coronavirus epidemic is a one-time event, said Jean-Philippe Poulin, President-Overseas Baking at Lesaffre & Co., but [we] maintain confidence in the Chinese market from start to finish, and will not change any strategies in the country, or  investment or cooperation. Sales of the company's staple yeast product have risen drastically in China during the epidemic, various online sources show.   

Targeting demand amongst the many people working from home during the pestilence, Seiko Epson has strengthened its online printer sales to ensure a satisfactory supply. 

Editor: Ben Armour