(Yicai Global) Nov. 6 -- Yiwu, a small Chinese city renowned for wholesale trading, plans to run its own mini import exhibition in a follow up to the China International Import Expo being held in Shanghai.

The city, based in Zhejiang province and about 300 kilometers from Shanghai, will run the event for two months after the end of the first ever CIIE, a six-day import-focused expo which opened yesterday.

Yiwu authorities will also send a delegation to the main event with a view to purchasing and pairing up like-minded businesses. The city will help domestic companies open shops, become brand agents and conduct on-site research on overseas firms at the CIIE. It will also offer matchmaking services for small- and medium-sized enterprises across the globe.

Yiwu is best known as a city of trade and opportunity. Market halls there cover around 6.4 million square meters, housing around 75,000 merchant booths selling more than 1.8 million products. It has stable trade links with 219 countries and regions.

To set the standards for import and trade, the city set up China Commodity City in 2008, a marketplace spanning 100,000 square meters and selling 90,000 products from more than 100 countries and regions, which makes it the largest one-stop shop for imported goods in China. Products sold there include foods, wines, dietary supplements, jewelry, baby products, cosmetics, household goods, and kitchen supplies, among others. The building also encompasses an integrated trade and exhibition center to help with business operations, expos, sales, and negotiations.

Yiwu was included in the list of China Cross-Border E-Commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zones in July to help it further open its doors to other nations and improve its import trading. It is linked by rail to Western Europe via the Yiwu-Madrid railroad to offer an express route for goods traveling along the Belt and Road -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's vision for a modern-day Silk Road.

The municipal government has already launched several favorable policies to promote imports in the city, such as offering incentives to companies that import and sell commodities within Yiwu. For every dollar worth of product bought and sold, the government will pay the merchant between CNY0.2 (3 US cents) and CNY0.3.