The just-concluded ninth edition of the annual China International Import Expo in Shanghai served as one of the most important offline events for companies looking to strengthen their economic and trade ties in the Asia-Pacific region, said top executives.

Participation figures speak for themselves. US companies have ranked first in exhibition area for eight consecutive editions, and this year added 1,500 square meters over last year. Canada, which served as the guest country of honor at this year's exhibition, took up its largest ever exhibition area at the CIIE compared with previous years. The exhibition of Australian companies grew 25 percent from 2025, and, apart from Brunei, all Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economies had companies participating in the business exhibition section — the core commercial segment of the expo that took place from Nov 5 to 10.

Making its CIIE debut in 2025, Sherwin-Williams Company, a paint and coating company headquartered in the United States, more than doubled its booth space to 180 sq m this year.

Julie Zhu, the company's general manager of General Industrial Asia, said the CIIE is an important platform to enhance regional connectivity within APEC, as it brings together companies, customers, technologies and ideas from different markets, creating opportunities for dialogue, collaboration and innovation.

Such connectivity has been translated into five strategic partnerships that Sherwin-Williams inked during this year's CIIE.

Solutions and experience developed with customers in China are also benefiting its global operations. As Chinese manufacturers expand internationally, the company is actively using its global network to support and grow with them in Southeast Asia, Mexico and other emerging markets, Zhu added.

Global lithium-ion battery solutions provider LG Energy Solution made its first CIIE presence this year and made the China debut of its new-type prismatic battery.

Applauding China's leading position in new energy, Tang Xinlei, the company's China public relations manager, said the country's battery industry has injected powerful momentum into the global new energy sector, adding that the company's China vice-president will attend the upcoming APEC meeting in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

Logistics service provider UPS unveiled its Asia-Pacific service upgrade with Shanghai Airport (Group) Co Ltd on Friday. This is part of the company's upgrades that kicked off earlier this year to better connect China with North Asia, South Asia, Australia and India, according to the company's China Marketing Head Wendy Wang.

The digitalization experience that UPS has gained by meeting the demand of the extremely tech-savvy Chinese users can feed into the other Asia-Pacific markets. The deployment of new energy vehicles in China to address the country's green transition can facilitate the green and sustainable development among APEC economies, she said.

"China's importance in the Asia-Pacific logistics network has risen significantly over the past few decades thanks to the country's rising smart manufacturing capabilities and clients' rising sophistication. We are more than willing to team up with our peers in China to help Chinese companies go global, as APEC cooperation is the very foundation of Asia-Pacific prosperity," she said.

Attending all nine editions of the CIIE, stress relief and sleep solutions provider Air Nutri Solution Inc (Canada) saw its exhibition area jump from 9 sq m in 2018 to over 100 sq m this year.

The company has gained a better understanding of Chinese consumer demand through the CIIE window and developed technology-based solutions. After validation in the Chinese market, the solutions can help open up broader international markets given the global commonality of demand for sleep, stress and emotional improvement, according to Li Jingming, China CEO of Sleeptopia — the operating company for Air Nutri in the country.