As time goes by, the CIIE has long transcended being merely an exhibition. Inside the venue, global enterprises travel to Shanghai with cutting-edge technologies and distinctive products, turning innovative ideas into vivid “CIIE stories”. Outside the venue, the Expo bears witness to China’s continued advance of high-standard opening-up, telling the world compelling “opening-up stories” about the expanding Chinese market. This “Appointment with the East”, with its steady annual rendezvous, keeps honouring China’s solemn commitment to expanding opening-up and sharing its market opportunities.

And the setting for all these stories is none other than the permanent host of the CIIE — the Hongqiao International Central Business District (hereinafter referred to as the CBD).

China’s Choice, the World’s Choice

When aircraft take off and land at Hongqiao Airport and you look down from above, a giant silver four-leaf clover comes into view. Within its four spread leaves stands the landmark of the CBD — the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), or NECC (Shanghai).

Spanning more than 1.5 million square metres and covering a full square kilometre, this colossal complex is equivalent to 2.5 times the size of Shanghai New International Expo Centre. It also integrates 400,000 square metres of office, commercial and hotel space, making it a “super carrier” for the exhibition industry in China and even across the globe.

Known affectionately as the Four-Leaf Clover, the NECC has been designated the permanent venue of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), the world’s first national-level import-themed expo. This mission has since been entrusted to the Hongqiao International Central Business District.

Why was the CIIE sited here? The answer lies in the interplay of the area’s millennium-long evolution and the choices of our times.

The name “Hongqiao” dates back to the Tianbao reign of the Tang Dynasty, when the area belonged to Gaochang Township, Huating County. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Anguo Lecture Temple was built north of Puhui River and west of Dongshang’ao Pond. Occupying over a hundred mu of land, the temple drew throngs of worshippers. A bridge nearby became a local landmark, and the name “Hongqiao” came into being.

In the reign of Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty, marketplaces gradually took shape along both banks of the Puhui River and beside Gujia Lane. The town of Hongqiao grew around the bridge and thrived by the water: the Xinjing River runs north-south and the Puhui River east-west. Thanks to convenient water transport, Hongqiao became a distribution hub for agricultural and sideline products and daily necessities. It gradually developed into a regional market town in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

During the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Shanghai County Annals first formally recorded “Hongqiao”. The bridge once spanned the Puhui River and was originally named Wangyun Bridge. Legend has it that after summer thunderstorms, a rainbow arched across the western sky above the bridgehead, so local folks called it Hongqiao — Rainbow Bridge.

In modern times, Hongqiao has undergone multiple administrative adjustments. From a water town in the Jiangnan region, it has transformed into a modern area, giving rise to place names on Shanghai’s map including Hongqiao Road, Hongqiao CBD and Hongqiao Transport Hub. It has become a key landmark in southwest Shanghai.

From a traditional market town to an international transport hub, amid the rhythms of reform and opening-up, Hongqiao’s remarkable transformation falls into three landmark stages.

Phase 1: Hub Planning and Construction (2004–2010). To better leverage Shanghai’s role as a central city, repeated comparisons were made between 2004 and 2005. Following the principle of regional coordination and resource sharing, authorities selected the area west of Hongqiao Airport for the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway station, building an integrated hub seamlessly linking air, high-speed rail, intercity and urban metro services.

Completed in 2010, the hub offered 64 connection routes and 56 transfer patterns, ranking as the world’s largest comprehensive transport hub at that time.

Phase 2: Development of Hongqiao CBD (2009–2019). In July 2009, the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government made a major strategic decision to develop Hongqiao CBD. In 2010, the Ministry of Commerce and the Shanghai Government jointly selected the site for the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). The NECC opened in 2014. Starting from 2018, the world’s first national import-themed expo, the China International Import Expo, kicked off here.

Phase 3: Hongqiao International Central Business District (2019–present). On 13 May 2019, the Outline of the Integrated Regional Development of the Yangtze River Delta explicitly set out to build the Hongqiao International Open Hub. On 13 November 2019, Shanghai’s Implementation Plan for Accelerating Hongqiao CBD Development and Building an International Open Hub expanded the CBD from the original 86.6 square kilometres to 151.4 square kilometres. It unified planning, construction, management and functional development to further strengthen its role as a business centre serving the Yangtze River Delta. In February 2021, the State Council approved the Master Plan for the Development of the Hongqiao International Open Hub, establishing the “One Core, Two Belts” layout. The former Hongqiao CBD was upgraded into the Hongqiao International Central Business District, acting as the core radiating towards the northern and southern belts and linking a region of roughly 7,000 square kilometres. Relevant local legislation entered into force in 2022.

Tides rise over the Yangtze River Delta; winds of openness blow from Hongqiao. This is China’s choice, and the world’s choice.

The Hongqiao International Central Business District sits on the western side of Shanghai’s central city, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces at the intersection of the Shanghai-Nanjing and Shanghai-Hangzhou development axes. It is both a global gateway for the Yangtze River Delta to reach the world and a pivotal hub connecting Shanghai with the Delta. Backed by the vast hinterland and enormous market of the Yangtze River Delta and supported by the world-class Hongqiao Integrated Transport Hub, Greater Hongqiao enjoys a unique geographic edge: it connects the three provinces and one municipality within the Delta domestically and links up with global markets internationally.

Two sets of tangible figures illustrate the momentum of its “major transport” and “major exhibition” strengths. In 2025, Hongqiao Hub recorded a total passenger flow of 422 million, averaging over 1.15 million per day with a single-day peak of 1.71 million, making it the world’s largest integrated transport hub. In the same year, the NECC (Shanghai) hosted 50 exhibitions receiving 7.388 million visitors, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%; it held 38 events covering 254,000 square metres, up 52% and 106.5% respectively year on year, drawing 212,000 attendees, a 39% year-on-year rise. Massive flows of people, commerce and information converge and interact here, generating a steady stream of driving force for high-standard opening-up.

Within the broader framework of Shanghai’s endeavour to build itself into an international centre for economy, finance, trade, shipping and sci-tech innovation, Hongqiao is a critical piece of the puzzle. As a frontline carrier for the five-centre initiative, the CBD undertakes the strategic mission of fulfilling Shanghai’s four functions: global resource allocation, sci-tech innovation source, high-end industry leadership and open hub gateway.

With the permanent siting of the CIIE, the spillover effect of debuts, first displays and premiere launches keeps unfolding, drawing global goods, cutting-edge technologies and cross-border capital. Connected via the integrated hub to the international shipping network, it facilitates smooth cross-border trade and logistics channels. It clusters multinational headquarters, foreign-related legal services, international human resources and other professional services to consolidate its high-end business foundation. Leveraging high-level forums and exhibition platforms, it absorbs global insights and wisdom to fuel sci-tech innovation.

Source: Jiefang Daily