A staff member presents an exhibit during the 2020 Smart China Expo Online in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Sept. 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)

"Indeed, smart technologies are vital for the inclusive and sustainable future we want," said Liu Zhenmin, UN Undersecretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, while addressing the opening ceremony via video link.

CHONGQING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The 2020 Smart China Expo Online commenced Tuesday in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

A total of 551 companies and institutions, including 148 foreign enterprises such as Intel, IBM and Siemens, have participated in the three-day event of smart products and smart manufacturing exhibition, co-hosted by Chongqing and Singapore.

The expo, the third edition since its inauguration in 2018, is widely considered as a manifestation of China's all-round, multi-level and diversified pattern of opening-up and cooperation amid the regular prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic.

"Indeed, smart technologies are vital for the inclusive and sustainable future we want," said Liu Zhenmin, UN Undersecretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, while addressing the opening ceremony via video link. "In the ongoing fight against COVID-19, smart technologies have been deployed to prevent, monitor and contain the spread of the pandemic, and to support recovery."

"The creativity and innovation of industries is key to the advancement of smart technologies, while governments have a crucial and expanding influence on creating an enabling environment," he added.

Themed "Smart Technology: Empowering Economy, Enriching Life," the expo has 41 online forums on 5G, blockchain, industrial internet and semiconductors.

Huawei, Hikvision, Mitsubishi Electric and other leading tech companies will hold 116 online launch events, releasing their latest products and showcasing their cutting-edge technologies.

A branch venue was set up in Singapore for the opening ceremony, which maintained a real-time connection with the main venue in Chongqing.

A staff member demonstrates a 5G-supported remote driving system during the 2020 Smart China Expo Online in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Sept. 15, 2020. The expo serves as a platform to promote global exchanges of smart technologies and international cooperation of the smart industry. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)

Addressing the opening ceremony via video link, Josephine Teo, Singapore's minister for manpower, said "this is a testament to Chongqing's ability to innovate and leverage digital technologies."

"Singapore and Chongqing have a shared commitment to be at the forefront of digital connectivity," she added.

"The era of intelligence belongs to the whole world," said Wang Zhijun, vice minister of industry and information technology, at the opening ceremony. "We welcome global smart enterprises to invest in China and share the world's largest consumer market and technology application market."

China will advance in the commercial deployment of 5G network, strengthen the development of new infrastructure such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and industrial Internet, and provide strong support to the global smart industries.

Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, China proposed to foster a new, dual-cycle development architecture with the domestic cycle as the mainstay and with domestic and international development reinforcing each other. China will open its door wider to the world to cooperate with countries, regions and enterprises that are willing to cooperate with it.

Since July, China has organized a slew of international events including Canton Fair, World Artificial Intelligence Conference and the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services.

The country has also announced that it will continue to hold international exhibitions such as China International Import Expo in the second half of this year, and will take the reform and opening-up of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone to a new level on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of its establishment.

As the first major economy in the world to recover from the shock of COVID-19, China has seen its gross domestic product expand 3.2 percent year on year in the second quarter, bouncing back from a contraction of 6.8 percent in the first quarter.

"Economic globalization is still a historical trend," said Zhang Xiaotao, dean of the school of international economics and trade at Central University of Finance and Economics. "China adheres to the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity and is firmly expanding opening-up, which will help pull the world economy out of the crisis and achieve recovery." ■