2019年CRI 第二届进口博览会将会展出更多高科技产品（在线收听）

Those who took part in last year's China International Import Expo couldn't help but be wowed by some of the high-tech products on display.

Among them, a flying car, a large gantry milling machine, a coin-sized pacemaker and a robot that played pingpong with humans.

But not happy to rest on last year's success, organizers say this November's event in Shanghai will be on an even larger scale, showcasing more innovation, and displaying even more unique and high-level products.

More than 18-hundred companies from close to 80 different countries and regions have already signed up for this year's Expo.

As such, Expo Bureau vice-Director Sun Chenghai says organizers have decided to make more room available.

"The scale is larger than that of the previous one, because the CIIE has drawn attention of the world. Last year, we planned an exhibition area of 210,000 square meters but we expanded it to 270,000 square meters later due to more enthusiasm and demand than was first anticipated. This year, people also have great expectations for the CIIE, so we plan to increase the company pavillion area from 270,000 to 300,000 square meters."

Sun Chenghai says the expanded CIIE is going to move beyond the walls of the National Exhibition and Convention Center.

"We've also established outdoor exhibition zones this time. Last last year they were all indoor exhibits. The outdoor zones are going to showcase large mechanical equipment, as well as vehicles. We are also adding indoor exhibition zones for high-end consumer products. These are just some of the highlights for this year's CIIE."

Organizers say AR and VR technology, the Internet of Things and blockchain technology will be more prevalent this year.

Deloitte is planning to use both augmented and virtual reality to showcase its solutions for smart cities, smart healthcare and smart manufacturing.

German home appliance maker Vorwerk is also headed back to Shanghai in November.

The company was a stand-out at last year's Expo, with three of its smart home appliances gaining celebrity-like status in China.

Beyond high-tech products, other, more low-tech oriented companies are also hoping to make a splash in Shanghai.

They include French cosmetics giant L'Oreal.

Already eyeing a major expansion into the Chinese market, L'Oreal is suggesting the success of last year's Expo, combined with the new business and foreign-friendly policy changes being rolled out by the Chinese government, made attendance in Shanghai this November a no-brainer.

This year's Expo is also going to feature more sideline events, including seminars and other non-commercial activities.

Among them, French yeast maker Lesaffre is going to use the Expo to stage the Asian leg of its World Bakery Cup competition.

CIIE organizers say stronger on-line and off-line promotional campaigns this year should help convince more companies - be they small, medium or multi-national, to book a spot in Shanghai this November.

Over 36-hundred companies took part in last year's CIIE, signing nearly 58-billion US dollars worth of business deals.

In a bid to surpass those totals this year, expo organizers say a more streamlined application and customs-clearance process should also make it easier for companies to get their products in-country, then on display in Shanghai.

For CRI, I'm Zhou Fang.

去年举办的首届中国国际进口博览会上的各种新产品新技术给令人们惊叹不已。

其中有会飞的汽车、巨型龙门铣、硬币大小的心脏起搏器、会与人协作的机器人等等。

但是组委会并不满足于去年的成功，他们表示今年11月在上海举办的展会规模将更大，同时将展出更多创新、独特、高水平的产品。

目前已有来自80多个国家和地区的1800多家公司确认参与今年的展会。

中国国际进口博览局副局长孙成海表示，组委会决定拓展展会空间。

“规模比上届更大，因为主要是进博会引起了全球各个国家的关注。去年原计划我们是21万平方米的展览面积，后来因为大家的需求热度比较高，最后扩大到27万平方米。今年依然是大家对进博会的期待很大，所以企业馆，我们今年做规划的时候就从27万(平方米)，增加到30万(平方米)。”

孙成海表示，扩大后的博览会将会扩到整个国家会展中心的范围。

“我们在室外也设了展馆，去年是都在室内，室外展馆重点是要(展出)大型的机械设备，还有一些车辆。室内我们要增加高端消费品的展区，这都是我们的亮点。”

组织者表示，今年将会突出AR和VR技术、物联网以及区块链技术的展示。

德勤计划用AR和VR技术来展示他们在智慧城市、智慧医疗和智慧制造方面提出的解决方案。

德国家电制造商福维克也将于今年11月重返上海。

去年他们在进博会上展示的三款智能家电，迅速成为“网红”产品。

除了这些高科技产品，一些相对科技含量较低的公司也希望在上海有所斩获。

其中就包括法国化妆品巨头欧莱雅。

欧莱雅已经着眼于大力开拓中国市场，去年他们在展会上取得了不错的成绩，而今年，随着新商业政策和外商政策的出台，他们毫无疑问将再度参加上海进口博览会。

今年的进口博览会也将会推出一些周边活动，比如一些研讨会以及非商业活动。

其中，法国酵母制造商乐斯福将借助进口博览会进行世界烘焙杯竞赛亚洲赛区的比赛。

中国国进进口博览会的组织者表示，今年将大力开展线上和线下宣传，以吸引更多公司在11月前来参展，无论是中小型企业还是跨国公司。

去年的进口博览会有3.6万家公司参展，共签订价值近580亿美元的合同。

为了超过去年，组织者表示今年将进一步简化申请程序和清关流程，让参展企业更容易在国内取到产品，来上海参展。

CRI新闻，周芳（音译）报道。