NANNING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday kicked off the application process for global exhibitors looking to participate in the eighth China International Import Expo (CIIE), set to be held in November 2025.

Twenty-six firms headquartered in countries such as the United States, Japan and Germany signed up to participate on-site at the exhibition recruitment launch ceremony in Nanning, the capital city of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Their exhibition area would total approximately 15,000 square meters.

Several foreign-invested companies attending the ceremony, including U.S. firm 3M and French firm L'Oreal, have been full-time CIIE participants since the expo's inception.

The CIIE, first held in 2018, is the world's first national-level expo to focus on promoting imports. The first six expos have seen more than 10,000 overseas enterprise registrations and the release of over 2,400 new products, technologies and services.

An exhibition area of over 350,000 square meters has been allocated for the seventh CIIE, which will be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to Nov. 10 this year.