China warmly welcomes US and other foreign enterprises to the China International Import Expo (CIIE), said Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Bingnan at a press conference in Shanghai on Saturday, two days ahead of the opening of the global event.

"As an open platform for ‘buy global and sell global,’ US enterprises have positively responded to the expo, as well as enterprises from around the world,” Wang said.

Nearly 180 American companies will attend the first-ever CIIE from November 5 to 10 in Shanghai, making the US third among all participating countries, he said.

US exhibitors include Fortune 500 companies, including Qualcomm, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, GM, Microsoft and Dupont. Top managers of many American and multinational corporations will lead their delegations.

This fully shows the Chinese market’s attractiveness to American companies, Wang said. “We hope Chinese and US companies can seize the opportunities that CIIE brings, reinforce complementary economic advantages and realize mutual benefits and win-win situation.”

Cooperation is the essence of Sino-US economic and commercial relations, Wang said. China is willing to negotiate with the US on the basis of equality, trust and mutual respect, and together promote the healthy and equal development of the bilateral economic and commercial relationship.