(Yicai Global) Oct. 31 -- Thousands of Chinese companies will participate in the upcoming first China International Import Expo to buy goods to be sold in the capital city.

Over 4,700 firms and institutions have registered to join to the CIIE as part of the city's delegation of purchasers, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce said to Yicai Global. More than 60 of those firms come from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and over 190 are foreign-funded firms.

The CIIE will be held at the National Convention & Exhibition Center in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10, and the city is expecting participants from 130 countries and more than 2,800 firms. 

The delegation has set up sub-groups for purchasing high-tech products such as cars and medical equipment to promote Beijing'a industrial upgrade, said Yongguo Ke, deputy director of the BMCC.

Beijing will hold theme activities to exhibitors during the CIIE, explaining its policy and advantages on developing the high-tech sector, Ke added.

Xinfadi Agricultural Products will sign import contracts for avocados originated from South Africa and durians from Thailand during the CIIE, said Zhang Yuxi, chairman of the Beijing-based wholesale market. 

Xinfadi imports fruits from 36 countries and sells them to Beijing citizens. The company imported 53,000 containers of fruits in 2017, with a trading volume of 1.14 million tons, amounting over CNY20 billion (USD2.9 billion), Zhang said. 

"With the growth of high-end consumption, Beijing citizens' demand for imported agricultural products rose too. Our company began to import durians from Southeast Asia in 2002, and the daily volume has increased sharply," Zhang said.

Some of the imported goods will be sold on Chinese e-commerce platforms. JD.Com will buy a large amount of branded goods during the CIIE, Qiang Qu, senior director of public affairs at the Beijing-based e-commerce giant, told Yicai Global.

Editor: Emmi Laine