(Yicai Global) Sept. 17 -- Fifty days before the start of the fourth China International Import Expo, almost 40 overseas firms, chambers of commerce and exhibition organizers have signed up for booths at next year’s event.

Karcher, Panasonic and BSH Household Appliances were among those who attended the signing ceremony yesterday.

Benefiting from its participation in previous CIIEs, Karcher Investment China’s annual revenue growth has been more than 30 percent in the country in recent years, making it one of the firm’s fastest-growing markets, according to China President Tang Xiaodong.

Karcher will debut ing new products, including Futuretech, intelligent cleaning robots, and fully automatic car washing robots, at this year’s CIIE in November, he told Yicai Global.

“Next we’re looking at setting up our research and development headquarters in China, with our R&D, manufacturing and sales headquarters all in China,” Tang said.

Karcher has already set up its sales and manufacturing headquarters in China and invested in a new production base for automatic car wash equipment last year.

Zhao Bingdi, president of Panasonic China, told Yicai Global that the gathering of the world’s outstanding companies and their products and technologies every year at the CIIE is “very impressive.” Attending the expo is also a learning experience for Panasonic, Zhao said.

Through the CIIE, Panasonic has showcased to the public its best products and solutions in various fields while strengthening communication with the government and other companies, Zhao added.

The CIIE has helped BSH Household Appliances achieve close contact with Chinese consumers and get first-hand feedback on products and experiences, said Ye Ge, senior vice president of Kitchen Appliances Products Division.

This has helped the company to better understand the actual needs of Chinese consumers and establish contact with more channel customers, Ye noted.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Peter Thomas