CCTV News: Every day, the pavilions at the Fair close at around 6 p.m. to take a short break for the next day’s visitors, as has been the case for the past five years. But on November 5, the first day of the sixth edition of the Fair, the “four-leaf clover” was still lit up after nightfall, welcoming a special group of visitors.
At 7.30 p.m., it was a good opportunity for visitors from all over the world who had gathered in Shanghai because of the Fair to fully experience this vibrant city. But in front of us, more than 160 executives from 18 countries and nearly 100 multinational enterprises gave up the bustling Bund and chose to stay in the closed “four-leaf clover”.
Keizo Takeo, Exhibitor: This is my third time here, and to be honest, I’ve never had a chance to see the whole pavilion.
Exhibitor Roy: I was too busy last year, I only saw half of the pavilion. As an exporter looking to enter China, it gives you time to gain a deeper understanding of the industry’s needs and build good relationships with distributors.
For these global executives with busy schedules, a full visit to Cloverleaf is what they have been looking forward to. Because of their enthusiasm, the Expo Bureau organised a special “tour” for the first time in six years.
Exhibitor Gustav Salford: I’m really looking forward to the whole exhibition, including companies from all over the world and different products and ideas.
Exhibitor Kaiser Hu: I’m very excited. We’re a U.S. company in the energy industry, and tonight is also a great opportunity for many international entrepreneurs and companies to meet with their Chinese partners to build more relationships and international trade opportunities.
Tour of the pavilion has begun close to 8 o’clock, in the sightseeing car, the reporter met again just met Hu Kaicheng, and he is the same car is PepsiCo’s global executive vice president Stephen Kehoe. This is PepsiCo’s first appearance at the Fair, originally thought he would be relatively unfamiliar with the venue, however, to the first station of the Food Hall, Stephen immediately came to the spirit.
Reporter: Is this the pavilion where your company is located?
Exhibitor Stephen Kehoe: Yes, you’ve hit the nail on the head. You should stop by the booth, I’ll show you around, you should come and take a look. Reporter: Apart from you, there are a lot of American companies at the Fair, right? Exhibitor Stephen Kehoe: Yes, our country (exhibition area) accounted for one-sixth, and we will have our own chef on site tomorrow.
Exhibitor HU Kai Cheng: So is there any special time I can join this food tour? Exhibitor Stephen Kehoe: You come at two o’clock, I’ll be there.
The conversation started with food, and during the one-hour tour, the two executives, who originally had no acquaintance with each other and were in completely different industries, chatted enthusiastically for the whole road. One would be talking about China’s “dual carbon” targets, and his company’s efforts to develop recyclable plastic bottles that would reduce carbon emissions by 41 per cent. Another will also discuss the green energy transition, which has great potential in the Chinese market.
Reporter: Are you interested in other products exhibited here? Exhibitor: The energy industry is a very complex industry and we need so many partners and technologies to make it all work. In fact, these are not competitors, these are our potential technology partners.
When they see exhibits from their own countries, they will take the initiative to introduce them to each other, and when they see exhibits of interest, they will take photos together. At the end of the conversation, the two even added WeChat to each other, a new skill they learnt after coming to China.
Exhibitor Hu Kaicheng: We met for the first time today, and we realised that we have both been in China for 42 years. Everyone is here for the same reason, and this is a great platform for co-operation between all international companies and Chinese partners.
EXHIBITOR Stephen Kehoe: This is a place for people to come together, to connect with each other, to think about new ideas, new products and new services. You can bring to this country and maybe offer to the rest of the world.
EXHIBITOR Gustav Salford: I’m still very much energised by the fact that I’m energised by everything I’ve done today, including meeting new people and seeing new things. I can’t wait and (if I can) I want to experience it again tomorrow.
At the end of the pavilion tour, it was already past 10 p.m., and there were still a lot of executives on site who hadn’t left. This is the charm of the Fair, we open our doors to welcome visitors from all directions; we build a platform for enterprises from different countries and industries to exchange and cooperate, so that the fruits of development can be benefited more deeply and farther.
