The CIIE Displays A Kaleidoscope of Innovative Products

By Ada Wang

After three years of develop- ment， the CIIE has become an important window into building an opened-up world economy. This year， approximately 3，000 exhibitors from 127 countries and regions participated in the event. The six exhibition areas， including the Automobiles Area， the Intelligent Industry & Information Technology Area and the Medical Equipment & Healthcare Products Area， witnessed newly-launched products from all over the world. The event featured a slew of high technology and countless new innovations.

High-tech products on display together

At the Medical Equipment & Healthcare Products Area， a hair transplant robot wowed many visitors. A mechanical arm is seen implanting hair into a plastic human model， with each hair being evenly and accurately implanted into the scalp of the plastic person. According to staff， the hair transplant robot has clear advantages over artificial hair transplanting. It is able to detect the growth angle of each hair through HD cameras， avoid 75% of single hair follicles， and extract two or three hair follicles. It has an internal and external double needle system. The internal needle is responsible for puncturing the scalp， and the external needle rotates at a high speed to peel off hair follicles. The robot is also equipped with a skin stretching device for tightening the scalp and wholly extracting hair follicles. More importantly， a hair transplant operation normally takes 5 or 6 hours. An operation of this length would be tiring for surgeons， while this is not a problem for the surgical robot.

The latest Da Vinci surgical robot was placed in the most prominent position on the booth. According to staff， this Da Vinci surgical robot is the most advanced medical product in the world. It has been used for clinical treatments abroad and the import application process is currently underway in China. It is said that this is not the first Da Vinci surgical robot to be introduced to China； however， the traditional surgical robot was only able to perform porous surgery， which required the opening of multiple operating incisions on the patient in order to carry out the surgery. The latest Da Vinci surgical robot can perform single incision surgery. Only a single 20 mm incision needs to be made in the patients body. This technology produces less trauma and allows for faster postoperative healing of patients. At present， it is mainly suitable for abdominal and thoracic surgery.

P&G also launched their global green e-commerce packaging “air cap- sule” at this years expo. This air capsule is made from recyclable materials without filling， cartons or tape. It can reduce the weight of packaging by more than 40%， and consumers dont have to worry about stacking large and small packaging boxes. In addition， if an adult stands on the air capsule， it will not break.

The lipstick printer launched by LOreal was given its Asian debut at the CIIE. This product made many girls cry out in surprise. The lipstick printer contains many key technologies， and provides thousands of lip color options. For young girls， this lipstick printer is like having their own person makeup artist every day.

Decathlon brought a quick-opening vehicle tent. The unique integrated design enables users to set up and store the tent within one minute. The tent is equipped with an inflatable pad， a ladder and a convertible star-gazing top， and it also has wind-proof， sun-proof and water-proof functions. This tent， also known as the “mobile star hotel” ， is expected to set off a new trend of vehicle tents globally after it hits the market.

UNIQLO has made the largest knitted skirt in UNIQLOs history for the CIIE， with a total length of 2.5 m. According to Wu Pinhui， Global Executive Director of Fast Retailing Group and Chief Marketing Officer of UNIQLO Greater China， this is a product based on 3D full forming technology which was co-developed by UNIQLO and Japans top textile company SHIMA SEIKI MFG.， LTD. Researchers produced a three-dimensional and seamless profile through accurate calculation， and then developed the integrated 3D seamless weaving art technology， which fits the curves of the human body perfectly.

Many financial products make their global debut

At this years CIIE， many financial products also made their global debuts. The Bank of China integrated digital RMB with special scenes from the CIIE and promoted many experience activities such as “touch and pay”through e-wallet， and converting digital RMB through foreign exchange machines. These services provide wholescene digital currency experiences for visiting customers.

This year， the CIIE Bureau and the Bank of China have been working together to promote the integration of digital RMB with special scenes from the CIIE， in order to expand the application scenarios for digital RMB. Many spots and booths at the CIIE have set up QR codes which will lead the consumer to the app in which to apply for digital RMB. Visitors could scan the code and pay the check using digital RMB. At the CIIE venue， digital RMB services covered 60 exhibitors and more than 100 ATMs， which were able to allow visitors to have a one-stop experience of the digital RMB.

Foreign visitors were also able to enjoy the convenience of digital RMB. Our reporter saw that visitors to the venue were able to covert foreign currency into the RMB of the same value on digital foreign exchange machines using their passports. They did not have to register or connect their bank account.

Moreover， the body security insurance solutions designed by CPIC provided body risk protections of more than RMB 1 trillion for staff， visitors and media workers. The protection service was valid from October 1 to December 31. It covered both the preparation and withdrawal period of the expo and also the time taken by visitors traveling to the Yangtze River Delta.

According to the person in charge of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China， during this expo， the bank actively innovated its services， provided exhibition venues for nearly 50 overseas enterprises from 20 countries and regions in the food and agricultural products exhibition area for the first time through its trusted exhibition model. It accurately served expo visitors and integrated its business with the exhibition scenes.

The Tokyo Marine Group brought new insurance products and services in the areas of health care and mechanical equipment failure alarms. “We brought digital insurance， and data application and risk prevention services and low-carbon social insurance services for this years CIIE. Many of these services are debuting in China，” said staff from the Tokyo Marine Group.

Touching the front-line of lowcarbon concepts

In 2020， China raised the targets for the carbon peak and carbon neutrality， which has stirred up a wave of low carbon products at this years CIIE.

Schneider Electric participated in the expo for the fourth time. This year， it displayed a number of products and technologies related to a “zero carbon city”， including the construction of a“zero carbon factory” and a “l(fā)ighthouse factory”， as well as low-carbon business models such as “end-to-end” green supply chains and “zero carbon parks”. The example zero carbon park built in Europe was displayed in a prominent position.

As the top automakers of Japan， Toyota， Honda and Nissan all brought innovative electric-powered vehicles. Toyota displayed some vehicle models which will be used for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Honda displayed the e：NS1 model， the first model of its electric-powered vehicle brand “e：N”. Nissan displayed electric vehicles and also displayed the first vehicle equipped with a variable compression ratio turbocharged engine. The compression ratio ranges flexibly from 8：1 to 14：1.

Tesla “moved” its Shanghai super factory to the expo for the first time. The BIM， plus the domestically-produced motors， batteries and other parts， also made a debut at the exhibition. It is said that the annual production capacity target of the Tesla Shanghai super factory has exceeded 450，000， and the localization rate of its vehicle parts has reached 90%. The factory is on the verge of reusing 92% of battery-used metals and recycling 96% of the waste materials. Tesla said that it would continue to increase its investment in China， strengthen technical cooperation with domestic industrial chain partners， improve the localization rate of the supply chain， and realize mutual growth with the Chinese economy.

Panasonic participated into this years expo with the theme “boundless care and a joyful heart and body”. It exhibited， in its “nursing space”， many new products such as a sliding door for wheelchair access， an electric bed which can be converted from a bed into a wheelchair， and a “walking training robot” that can analyze your walking ability in real time and record training results.

Japans intelligent manufacturing company Nachi also displayed its best technologies. It brought the container house building system to CIIE， in the hopes of using such technology in proj- ect constructions in China.

At the green and intelligent home appliance exhibition area， a British exhibitor displayed a drinking water machine tailored to Chinese consumers. Another exhibitor from Finland brought an air sterilizing machine featuring sterilizing， cleaning and degerming functions.

In the “automobile exhibition area-innovation incubation zone” of this expo， the innovation incubation institution the “BMW start-up garage”set up by the BMW Group created a wonderful display. On the 180 square meter booth， a total of 15 start-ups from Germany， the U.S.， Canada， the U.K.， France， Switzerland， Argentina， South Korea and Hong Kong brought their innovative products. The exhibition contents included automatic driving， intelligent transportation solutions， intelligent robot systems and new materials. The purpose of this was to boost the commercial application of innovative technologies.

Setting up cultural art section for the first time

This years expo included a special section for cultural relics and art works for the first time. A total of 41 cultural relics and works of art from 9 overseas exhibitors including Christies， Sothebys， Phillips， OTA Fine Arts and Heni reached the purchase intention stage at this expo， with a total value of RMB 760 million. This value far exceeded the turnover of RMB 2.2 million of the five exhibits at the last expo.

Among the exhibits that have reached the purchase intention， there are many fine works contributed by both Chinese and Western artists. For example， Chinese artist Zhang Daqians“Amazing beauty”， “Qiaomu fanghui”， Qi Baishis “Hongxian stealing box”， Fu Baoshis “Master reading books”， Wu Guanzhongs “Jubilation”， Chang Yus“Chrysanthemum bottle on the yellow table”， etc.， and Western artist Marc Chagalls “Circus actors and circus”， Alberto Giacomettis sculpture “Bust of Diago”， and Wayne Thiebauds “Wiping face”， etc. In addition， the works of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama were popular among visitors. At the expo， a total of 7 works including some of her famous pumpkin sculptures reached the purchase intention.

Top cultural and art institutions are willing to bring high-value works to the expo. On the one hand， this is due to the 5-piece duty-free policy for works of art， collections and antiques. This means that each overseas exhibitor who sells less than 5 imported works of art， collections and antiques during the expo period enjoys exemption from import tariffs， and value-added tax and consumption tax for imports. On the other hand， the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism（the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics） specially formulated and released the Service Guide for Art， Collectibles and Antiques Exhibits at Chinas International Import Expo （2021 version）， which provides whole-process operation guidance for exhibitors and collectors on how to make exhibitions and purchase the exhibits. Relying on the advantages of convenient customs clearance in the free trade zone and the service advantages of the Shanghai International Art Bonded Service Center， the CIIE provides all exhibitors with whole-process one-stop accurate services for customs declaration， logistics， bonded warehousing， display outside of a bonded zone， setting up and withdrawing exhibitions， retention and purchases.