Openness Navigates Change, Cooperation Creates Tomorrow-Closing Of The 26Th China International Fair For Investment & Trade

(MENAFN- TimesNewswire ) Xiamen, China / Timesnewswire / October 3, 2026 – As autumn tides surge through the port of Xiamen, the sails of opening spread once again. On September 11, the 26th China International Fair for Investment & Trade (CIFIT) concluded in Xiamen, Fujian.

As an international investment event hosted in the first year of China's 15th Five-Year Plan, this year's CIFIT thoroughly implemented the spirit of President Xi Jinping's congratulatory message to the 25th CIFIT. With the permanent theme of“Further Expanding Bilateral Investment, Jointly Facilitating Global Development,” the Fair centered on three major sections-”Investment in China,”“China's Investment,” and“International Investment”-and carried out a series of activities including exhibitions and displays, thematic trend discussions, the release of authoritative information, and project matchmaking and negotiations. This year's CIFIT has attracted delegations from more than 1,200 government agencies and business groups across 129 countries and regions, along with representatives from 30 international organizations. Among the world's top 50 economies by GDP, 48 sent delegations to CIFIT. The total number of business visitors exceeded 100,000, while both the number of participating countries and delegations reached historic highs. Key speakers included 60 leaders at ministerial level or above from within China, 42 officials at ministerial level or above from overseas, 40 representatives of international organizations, and 147 executives from overseas financial institutions and enterprises, among others. A total of 660 guests delivered speeches at exchange events and forums, including 160 guests from overseas.

Opening for Momentum: Implementing the Spirit of the Congratulatory Letter and Consolidating Global Investment Confidence

Vice President Han Zheng delivered remarks at the opening ceremony, emphasizing that President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed China's unwavering commitment to expanding high-level opening-up and continuing to liberalize and facilitate trade and investment. While the world is entering a period of turbulence and transformation with notably increased uncertainty and instability, the historical trend toward openness and cooperation will not change. CIFIT, serving as an important platform for deepening global investment cooperation, has made its permanent theme“Further Expanding Bilateral Investment, Jointly Facilitating Global Development” all the more significant. He put forward three suggestions: first, to continuously open up new ground for win-win cooperation; second, to speed up the cultivation of new drivers for innovative growth; and third, to jointly maintain the stability and smooth operation of industrial chains.

Transcending geographical boundaries to join the appointment of open cooperation, this year's CIFIT marked a first-time arrangement with dual guest countries of honor and dual guest provinces of honor. Finland and Saudi Arabia represented the guest countries, while Guangdong and Qinghai represented the guest provinces. Among them, Finland organized 42 enterprises and institutions to participate, including such notable companies as KONE, UPM, Nokia, Valmet, Metsä, and others. Saudi Arabia organized 186 enterprises and institutions to attend, including Saudi Aramco, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Public Investment Fund, ACWA Power, Riyadh Air, and others. With participation at multiple levels from international organizations, overseas investment promotion agencies, multinational corporations, financial institutions, and business associations, the“circle of friends” for global investment cooperation has been further expanded.

China's ultra-large-scale market, the complete industrial system, abundant application scenarios, and the vast opportunities created by the rapid development of new quality productive forces have made this country an important window for global investors to observe the future direction of the world economy. Through exchange after exchange and negotiation after negotiation at CIFIT, a clear and firm message has emerged: openness remains the overarching trend of the times, and cooperation continues to be the common choice.

Precise Matchmaking: Connecting Bilateral Investment and Expanding Regional Cooperation Space

Bilateral investment ran through the entire fair, with precise matchmaking translated into practical outcomes. The conference organized 46 themed activities, including a multinational investment trends briefing, RCEP economic and trade cooperation matchmaking sessions, and dialogues on international cooperation across industry supply and production chains-along with 52 project roadshows. Meanwhile, it also held 18 additional events, including the 2026 International Investment Forum, the Gulangyu Forum, and the Eighth Maritime Silk Road International Cooperation Forum.

Financial services have strengthened investment across the full chain. This year, the CIFIT financial-related exhibition areas expanded to 25,000 square meters, with participating institutions growing to 140. The lineup included the People's Bank of China, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and China Investment Corporation, alongside a slate of policy financial institutions including the China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China, and the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation, underscoring the depth and professional rigor of the national-level financial pavilion. A series of high-caliber, highly professional financial support activities facilitated efficient matching between global capital and real-economy industries, further unleashing the potential of financial services. The Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) exhibition zone showcased its prominence, welcoming 74 globally systemically important banks and regional mainstream banks from 46 countries and regions across all six continents. Through activities such as themed sessions on cross-border cooperation between banks and enterprises, the zone provided more professional, efficient, and convenient support for cross-border RMB settlement and clearing, facilitation of trade and investment, cross-border financing, and funds management.

Centered on countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, the Fair leveraged platforms including the China-Indonesia“Two Countries, Twin Parks” project, the industry coordination of China-Middle East sustainable development, high-quality Belt and Road development exchanges, and RCEP economic and trade cooperation. It brought together specialized resources such as engineering supply chain services and overseas expansion support for enterprises, while promoting policy communication, industrial alignment, and project cooperation. Accompanying CIFIT for eight years, Silk Road Maritime has expanded from the first named shipping route launched in 2018 to 153 ports across 50 countries and regions worldwide. It has progressed from shipping network coordination toward integrated port-shipping-trade development, providing support for stable and smooth industrial and supply chains. The Cross-Strait Integrated Development Zone doubled in exhibition space, focusing on semiconductors, financial services, and biotechnology, attracting 18 Taiwan enterprises and four national-level cross-Strait key industrial parks, with 280 cross-Strait enterprises participating in exchanges. Hong Kong and Macao leveraged their unique advantages in connecting the mainland with international markets. Through their dedicated pavilions, as well as activities such as cross-border investment exchange between both sides and“Fujian-Hong Kong Scientific and Technological Innovation Face-to-Face,” they built bridges in areas including cross-border finance, professional services, technology commercialization, and enterprises going global-opening even broader space for bilateral investment.

The“Hailian Reception Room · Entering CIFIT” series has provided targeted support by integrating resources from overseas governments and investment promotion agencies, chambers of commerce, and professional service providers, helping enterprises better understand overseas markets, find cooperation partners, and expand international business. During the Fair, they organized 11 special sessions, bringing together 2,100 participants from trading enterprises and more than 1,500 companies.

Investing in the Future: Focusing on Frontier Industries and Gathering Innovative Forces

Capital is watching the present and at the same time looking ahead. The Future Investment Conference 2026, themed“Global Investment for a Changing World,” brought together representatives from governments, international organizations, financial institutions, investment entities, and the industrial sector. Participants engaged in in-depth discussions on cutting-edge fields including artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, life sciences and healthcare, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing, collectively analyzing shifts in the global investment landscape, supply chain restructuring, and green transition trends, in order to find direction amid change and capture opportunities within transformation.

This year's CIFIT focused on artificial intelligence and the low-altitude economy, establishing dedicated zones for new quality productive forces and international cooperation among specialized, sophisticated, distinctive, and innovative SMEs. Through dynamic exhibitions, immersive experiences, and scenario demonstrations, the Fair showcased innovation achievements including robots, intelligent equipment, and industrial large language models. The Green China thematic zone and corresponding industry matchmaking activities concentrated on presenting new technologies, new achievements, and new opportunities in the green and low-carbon sectors.

From artificial intelligence to advanced manufacturing, from life sciences to green and low-carbon development, future-oriented industries converge at CIFIT while innovative resources helping cultivate new quality productive forces connect and interact here. New technologies help discover new scenarios; new projects attract new capital; and new industries open up new market potential.

Platform Upgrading: Linking Global Resources and Serving an Open World Economy

For the first time, CIFIT was held at the Xiamen International Expo Center, with exhibition space expanded from 120,000 to 200,000 square meters. This step forward represented not only a physical expansion but also an upgrade in platform capabilities to a higher level.

The venue is upgrading, and so are the experience scenarios. This year's CIFIT innovatively launched“CIFIT Premium Goods,” bringing together distinctive global products, quality domestic products, Fujian Province-wide specialties, and fine supply from time-honored enterprises and intangible cultural heritage creators. Through a combination of premium product displays in pavilions and new retail experiences in corridors, along with integrated online and offline engagement, the Fair integrated product showcase, procurement matchmaking, consumer experience, and cultural exchanges into a unified space where the pulse of investment and the warmth of everyday consumption meet.

Digital technology has made these connections even more efficient. This year's CIFIT further integrates digitalization and smart capabilities into the entire process of exhibitions and displays, information queries, project matchmaking, and service support. The“Cloud CIFIT” platform set up 968 cloud exhibition booths, released more than 4,700 projects, and facilitated over 19,000 online matchmaking sessions. In addition, the“Meet the Future” capital project matchmaking pavilion introduced an innovative“Project Supermarket” featuring 130 select projects, completing more than 1,300 one-on-one negotiations in total. Information flows, project flows, and capital flows accelerated and converged with the help of digital technology, resulting in more precise supply-demand matching, more efficient resource allocation, and allowing partners thousands of miles away to connect across time and distance with greater speed and effectiveness.

The concentration of authoritative information also strengthened CIFIT's ability to track trends and provide public goods. CIFIT released 28 authoritative information reports, including the“China Two-way Investment Report 2026,”“Statistical Bulletin on Foreign Investment in China 2026,” the Chinese edition of the“World Investment Report 2026,” and the“China's Overseas Investment Country Development Report (2025-2026),” offering professional references for all parties to observe China's investment environment, grasp trends in bilateral investment, and assess the direction of global capital flows. With policy interpretation, trend analysis, specialized discussions, industry cooperation, and project matchmaking interlinked, the Fair not only connects capital and projects, but also integrates information, policy guidance, and market expectations, offering an important window for observing investment trends amid global economic changes.

The reach of information dissemination also continued to expand. This year's CIFIT received registrations from 105 media organizations and more than 1,000 journalists. By 3:00 p.m. on September 11, the total information volume reached 119,000 articles, disseminated in 46 languages to 86 countries and regions. The news center's service system was further upgraded to enhance the supply of public materials and interview services, helping the“Golden Key, Golden Voices” message travel farther and reach wider, so that the world can hear the resonant echo of the era's call for openness and cooperation.

Keeping Moving Forward, Embracing What's New

At the opening ceremony of the Future Investment Conference, Ling Ji, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative for International Trade Negotiations, said that China is ready to share advanced experience and innovative practices with all parties to support the drive toward digitalization, intelligent development, and green transformation, creating new opportunities to attract foreign investment for the countries of the Global South. China is committed to building a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory international investment environment. Under the multilateral trading framework, we will promote the liberalization and facilitation of investment, remove unreasonable barriers to investment, and help bridge the development gaps. This is China's solemn commitment to the world, and the enduring mission that CIFIT has consistently upheld.

At the new starting point of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, CIFIT ensures that open opportunities flow more abundantly and that the bonds of cooperation become closer and more resilient. It will inject sustained momentum into promoting inclusive economic globalization and building an open world economy.

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