Buoyed by the thumping success of the first China International Import Expo, its organizers are gearing up for the second edition and are anticipating even greater participation from abroad next year.

As part of these efforts, the organizers have already sent a high-level delegation led by Liu Fuxue, vice-president of the CIIE bureau, to Australia and New Zealand to gain more support from local businesses for the next edition of the expo in Shanghai.

The delegation organized business forums in Auckland, New Zealand and Sydney, Australia, last week to showcase the results of the first expo and invite local enterprises to the next expo. The forums were attended by companies that participated in the first expo, interested participants, as well as officials from the local trade and commerce departments and Chinese embassies.

The delegation also went to Indonesia before returning to China. Another delegation is currently in the United States and will visit Mexico and Brazil, while a new team is planning trips to other countries next month, according to the bureau.

According to Liu, registration for the second expo has been open since July this year with more than 1,000 companies already keen on participation. The bureau has signed contracts with 100 companies and reserved an exhibition area of 30,000 square meters for them. He added that more contracts are in the process of negotiation, and those wishing to attend the second expo would need to register before April 30, 2019.

The expo will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai. During the first expo, its 300,000 square-meter exhibition area was occupied by more than 3,000 exhibitors from over 130 countries and regions.

Kylie Bell, executive director of industry, trade and investment at New South Wales' state department of industry, said she and the state governor attended the expo together with 50 companies from New South Wales, and signed many memorandums of understanding and secured many deals.

Bell said that the state government will continue recommending the expo to local companies.

First proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2017, the expo is the first of its kind for its scale and its theme on imports.

Xi promoted the expo on several occasions and during his state visits to Spain, Argentina, Panama and Portugal. During his trip to the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, he again invited foreign companies to participate in the expo, and make better use of it as a platform to expand trade with China.

Martin Kerchner, the minister of economy, infrastructure and energy of Mendoza province, Argentina, told Xinhua News Agency that he was excited to see Xi's signed article in an Argentinian newspaper mentioning the expo.

Kerchner was in Shanghai in November for the expo and saw Chinese people's demand for high-quality agricultural products at first hand. Argentina has strength in providing high-quality food products, he said, adding that future engagements between the two countries look promising.