The launch ceremony of a trade and exhibition center for imported goods is held in Shanghai's Hongqiao Central Business District (CBD) on Oct 22. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The launch ceremony of a trade and exhibition center for imported goods was held in Shanghai's Hongqiao Central Business District (CBD) on Oct 22, attracting companies and organizations from countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Japan and Switzerland.

As an extension of the upcoming China International Import Expo (CIIE), the trade and exhibition center has been set up to gather goods from all over the world and boost the purchasing of imported goods amongst locals.

The center is designed to cover an area of 200,000 square meters with an overall floorage of 600,000 sq m. Four of the six blocks in the center have been completed and the other two will be put into use during the second CIIE.

Enjoying convenient transportation links, the center is only one kilometer away from Hongqiao's integrated transport hub and three kilometers away from the National Exhibition and Convention Center, the host site of the CIIE.

Four areas have been set up in and divided in the center according to different uses, including import goods selling, cross-border e-commerce and supporting services.

Yang Jianrong, chairman of the Council for Promotion of International Trade Shanghai, said the planning and development of Hongqiao CBD is promising and will contribute to the overall upgrading of Shanghai's core competiveness.

Exhibitions including an imported goods exhibition of five countries from South America and a design exhibition of Japanese architecture master Kengo Kuma have opened to the public. Additionally, countries including Singapore, Russia and Spain have reached cooperation agreements with the Hongqiao CBD administration committee.

The imported goods exhibition of five countries from South America including Argentina, which is open to the public in Hongqiao CBD. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]