National flags of all the countries attending the upcoming CIIE are raised in the square in front of the National Exhibition and Convention Center at the main venue of the event in Shanghai, on October 15. (Photo: Yang Hui/GT)
Shanghai makes large-scale preparations for forthcoming import expo
At five o'clock in the afternoon, white-collar worker Ge Chaoye follows a crowd of commuters into a subway carriage of Line 2 in Shanghai. A bit different from ordinary carriages, this one is decorated with China International Import Expo (CIIE) logos as well as photos, cartoons, artwork and celebrity quotes related to the expo.
"The import expo represents the speed of China's development," renowned former hurdler Liu Xiang says.
Including this carriage, four other CIIE-themed metro cars have started services for the upcoming event that will take place in Shanghai from November 5 to 10. They will operate until the conclusion of the expo.
Another subway carriage is decorated with images from the popular Belgian cartoon the Smurfs. A symbol of China-Belgium cooperation, this design is meant to attract Chinese merchants and promote trade between the two countries.
Some passengers would rather wait a little longer for a CIIE-themed train than take an earlier-arrived ordinary one. Ge is among those eager to take a CIIE train. "I just let the previous three [trains] go," Ge said.
Indeed, Shanghai is excited for the CIIE. During the six-day expo, over 2,800 enterprises from 130 countries and regions will gather here to display and sell their products and services. How to better serve them has become a big challenge for the host city.
CIIE's main venue, the four-leaf clover-shaped National Exhibition and Convention Center, is located near Hongqiao Railway Station along subways Line 2 and 10.
"We launched two CIIE-themed trains on each of the two lines," Lan Tian, a press officer for Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, told the Global Times.
It is estimated that, during the expo, half of the visitors will arrive at the "four-leaf clover" via Line 2. Shanghai Metro is now considering adding more Line 2 trains and shortening the interval time between trains from three minutes to about two minutes during rush hour.
To save visitors' time, Shanghai Metro installed a voice-activated ticket machine at Shanghai South Railway Station along Line 1. Passengers can buy a ticket within only 20 seconds simply by saying the name of their destination station into a microphone and scanning an Alipay QR code to pay.
"We will install more machines of this kind at Shanghai's most-crowded stations, such as People's Square Station," Lan told the Global Times.
Safety and order
At East Xujing Station of Line 2, one of the nearest metro stations to the National Exhibition and Convention Center, metro employees are busy learning English.
"Oral English is the most difficult part for me," staffer Sun Ruiyi told local media, showing a palm-size booklet entitled 100 English Sentences for CIIE, compiled by Shanghai Metro. "Each of my coworkers at the station has this booklet."
The city is also operating 440 new electric buses with multiple facilities and functions with LED lights, a surround-view camera system and smart driving. For those who choose to drive to the venue, 15 new roads around the center have been constructed to help traffic flow.
Shanghai is generally recognized as one of China's safest cities. According to a 2017 survey by online travel service provider Ctrip, Shanghai ranked first in safety among all domestic cities. Local police patrolling the streets late at night are commonly seen in this city.
"We are working hard to ensure CIIE's safety and order," Zhu Liang, a press officer for the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, told the Global Times.
On October 14, authorities released a list of prohibited and restricted items during the event, including guns, ammunition, explosives, fireworks, oil and ethyl alcohol. Beverages, water, animals and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) are not allowed to be brought into the exhibition halls.
UAVs and other low-level, slow and small LSS aircrafts are banned from being flown anywhere in the city from October 23 through November 12.
"But aircrafts for broadcast, aerial photography, police service, emergency rescue and weather detection with a permit are excluded," Zhu said.
On October 16, local railway police held an explosion drill simulating a suspected explosive at Shanghai South Railway Station. After receiving the order, police arrived within only nine seconds.
Shipping and unpacking
On September 8, a batch of exhibits to be displayed at the forthcoming CIIE was loaded onto the COSCO Spain, a container vessel of COSCO SHIPPING.
Being nominated as CIIE's recommended global transport service provider, COSCO SHIPPING began to provide its first transportation service for CIIE exhibitors.
Since May, the company has set up a CIIE logistics team to provide services for exhibitors. Xie Guosong, the logistics team leader, told the Global Times that the last batch of exhibits are expected to arrive in Shanghai on Wednesday.
Xie said that their job is to provide on-site supervision and cooperate with customs inspectors and make sure that all exhibits arrive at their designated places.
On October 16, the Global Times reporters witnessed the entire process of unloading and sorting exhibits going to CIIE's main venue. A batch of imported goods including fruit wine and mineral water from Vanuatu, a small Pacific Island country in the South Pacific Ocean, entered a warehouse in Baoshan district.
Customs officials and employees from COSCO SHIPPING cleared the goods on site. The working staff verified the owner and name and counted the number of exhibits to be arranged for sorting and storage.
After carefully checking the imported cargo, customs officers sealed the containers back up with tape.
Thus far, the logistics service team of COSCO SHIPPING has provided services for over 100 exhibitors from 24 countries and regions.
As for the exhibits, a 200-ton milling machine from a German company, the biggest exhibit at the expo, which is used for manufacturing, arrived at the main venue.
