The National Exhibition and Convention Center /CGTN Photo
Wednesday marks the 200-day countdown for the first China International Import Expo, which will be held in Shanghai in November. The event will be hosted at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC), and organizers are already looking for ways to provide the best services to those expected to attend.
The NECC in Shanghai resembles a four-leaf clover, a sign of luck.
It's the largest single building and exhibition complex in the world, with facilities for exhibitions, office buildings, a plaza and a hotel.
There are two exhibition zones: 400,000 square meters of exhibition halls and 100,000 square meters of exhibition space outdoor.
The venue includes 16 exhibition halls. One of the largest is 30,000 square meters, more than the size of four football fields, and about 10 stories high. It is large enough to accommodate all sorts of shows and fit large exhibits showcasing planes and automobiles.
The mega-sized exhibition center will also be convenient to commute to and from. A subway station situated within the convention center can take guests to the city center in about 20 minutes. And many shuttle buses will be in service to transport guests from the airport and high speed rail station to the venue in merely 10 minutes.
Emphasizing top-notch service
Banks and restaurants are also located near and within the NECC. And there will be a wide selection of cuisine.
"Since there will be guests from many countries and from different religious backgrounds at the expo, they will easily find food that is familiar to them, such as Pizza Hut, Starbucks, McDonald's and KFC, and we are working to introduce more foreign cuisines as well as halal food," explained Yu Zhou, the operations manager at the center.
"The venue is very big. Many people feel they are entering a maze when they are in the venue. During the expo, we will try to install equipment to help people navigate around the venue. With the expo's official app, they can accurately map out the path to the booth they want to visit," Shen Jiahua, assistant general manager of digitalization at the NECC, told CGTN.
A tangible example of China's opening up
The first China International Import Expo will include country pavilions for trade and investment, an enterprise and business exhibition and a trade forum. So far, more than 800 companies from 80 countries have signed up to participate.
"The import expo is the first expo with the theme 'Import the World.' It shows that China is sincere in further opening up its market. China is the second largest importing and consumption-based country, and we would like to share our opportunities with the world," said Zhou Lingyan, head of vendors invitation division of China International Import Expo Bureau.
CGTN's Wang Hui
