On the morning of November 5, 2025, the 8th China International Import Expo (hereinafter referred to as the "CIIE") opened in Shanghai. The Anhui Trade Delegation made its appearance once again, showcasing scientific and technological innovations alongside profound cultural heritage, embracing the world with an open attitude to share development opportunities.

The Anhui Trade Delegation attached high importance to participating in the CIIE. As early as September 20, it had held the "2025 World Manufacturing Convention — CIIE Foreign Enterprises (Anhui) Supply-Demand Matching and Investment Exchange Event" in Hefei. During the event, over 130 renowned local Anhui enterprises held on-site negotiations and established connections with representatives from 21 CIIE exhibitors.

At this year's CIIE, technology enterprises from Anhui brought multiple physical exhibits for display in the China Pavilion. Furthermore, time-honored brands and intangible cultural heritage projects from cities such as Huainan and Chizhou also showcased Anhui's rich cultural endowments. Over the eight years of the CIIE, Anhui has striven to transform from a mere "purchaser" into a "strategic partner," with collaboration models deepening from simply "buying products" to "introducing technology and promoting upgrading." This year, the Anhui Trade Delegation added one new emerging industry sub-delegation, responsible for organizing relevant units in emerging industries to participate in the expo and conduct investment promotion. All this serves a more precise goal: leveraging the CIIE to empower the key industries that Anhui is fully developing, and striving to transform exhibitors into investors.

In the artificial intelligence exhibition zone, Anhui-based iFlytek, a leading enterprise in the AI field, participated as an exhibitor. This year, iFlytek showcased the iFlytek Zhiwen AI Platform, the iFlYREC multilingual conference system, and its latest AI conference earbuds.

As an industry leader, iFlytek has consistently been a focus of attention. This year marks the eighth consecutive year iFlytek has been invited to exhibit at the expo. Its advanced large AI models and intelligent consumer-grade products demonstrate Anhui's new quality productive forces to the world.

As of October this year, the Anhui Pilot Free Trade Zone had generated 236 institutional innovation outcomes, with 47 being pioneering initiatives in China and 15 being replicated and promoted nationwide. The zone is now home to 84,000 market entities, 2.7 times the number at its establishment.

Since the beginning of this year, the Anhui Pilot Free Trade Zone has maintained strong development momentum. From January to September, it achieved total import and export value of 229.72 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.3%. This growth rate is 16.6 percentage points higher than the provincial average and 28.3 percentage points higher than the national average. The zone accounted for 31.6% of the province's total import and export value, an increase of 3.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year, contributing 8.9 percentage points to the province's overall import and export growth. From January to August, actual utilized foreign capital reached 8.04 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.3%, demonstrating its powerful "gravitational field" effect.

Anhui's distinctive cultural charm was on full display in the China Time-honored Brand exhibition area. The Anhui Pavilion bustled with activity as buyers from around the world experienced its cultural appeal through pyrography art blending traditional techniques with contemporary elements, inkstones showcasing historical heritage, and elegant porcelain ware.

Liu Qingfeng, a municipal-level inheritor of Huainan pyrography, who was attending the CIIE for the second time, shared that his master had previously been the one exhibiting at the event. Now having taken up the mantle, he's contemplating how to better integrate intangible cultural heritage into modern life.

"This year, I've created wooden pyrography badges and refrigerator magnets featuring CIIE elements—categories that are quite popular nowadays," Liu explained, holding up his new "Jinbao" (the CIIE mascot) refrigerator magnet. "I've also made auspicious designs like the 'Five Blessings Welcoming Wealth,' which particularly resonate with young consumers. Only by becoming part of daily life can intangible cultural heritage maintain its vitality."

According to officials from Anhui's Department of Commerce, the Anhui Trade Delegation for this year's CIIE comprised over 1,900 registered organizations, including 1,408 enterprises, with more than 6,400 participants, 2,819 of whom were enterprise representatives. The intended procurement volume exceeded 2.4 billion yuan. Over the past seven CIIE editions, Anhui has organized participation from more than 15,000 procurement units and over 47,800 attendees, achieving cumulative procurement deals worth $14.737 billion and attracting investments exceeding 81.528 billion yuan from more than 30 countries and regions. These figures demonstrate Anhui's steadily widening path of openness and increasingly firm steps in international cooperation.

Source: anhuinews.com