On November 6, the supporting event of the 8th China International Import Expo, the "Invest in China: China-Japan Advanced Technology Exchange and Matching Meeting," was successfully held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). The event was hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, organized by the Investment Promotion Agency of the Ministry of Commerce, and co-organized by the People's Government of Changning District. Yu Zirong, deputy director-general of the Investment Promotion Agency of the Ministry of Commerce; Ji Xiaofeng, second-level inspector of the Foreign Investment Administration of the Ministry of Commerce; Yoshiyuki Yamada, minister for Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Japan in China; and Liu Ping, deputy secretary of the CPC Changning District Committee and district director, attended and delivered speeches.

The meeting focused on key areas such as intelligent robotics and health & elderly care, aiming to build a platform for industrial cooperation between China and Japan, deepen synergistic innovation in advanced technologies, and facilitate new achievements in practical cooperation between the two countries.

At the meeting, Liu expressed sincere gratitude to entrepreneurs and international friends who have long cared for and supported Changning's development and China-Japan exchange and cooperation. He stated that as an important gateway connecting Shanghai with the Yangtze River Delta and the world, Changning has always been a "preferred location" for Japanese enterprises investing in China. Changning is home to over 6,500 foreign-invested enterprises and 92 regional headquarters of multinational corporations. Among them, Japanese enterprises account for one-fifth of all foreign enterprises in Changning, while Japanese regional headquarters represent nearly half of the district's total foreign headquarters and nearly one-fifth of all Japanese regional headquarters in Shanghai. Key Japanese organizations, such as the Consulate-General of Japan in Shanghai and the JETRO Shanghai Office, are concentrated in Changning. Leading Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi Electric, Sumitomo Electric, ASICS, and The Pokémon Company, have established and expanded their operations in Changning.

In recent years, Changning has actively implemented the national AI development strategy, centering on the "AI+" initiative to build an industrial highland with concentrated innovation factors and rich application scenarios. It has vigorously promoted the construction of the Shanghai Silicon Alley sci-tech innovation block, gathering over 900 innovative enterprises in fields such as artificial intelligence, internet technology, and intelligent robotics. As one of China's first pilot demonstration bases for smart health and elderly care applications, Changning continues to explore innovations in building a dementia-friendly community, empowering elderly care through digital solutions, and developing the silver economy. It constantly meets the diverse health and elderly care service needs of seniors, striving to create a new vision of "longevity, health, and tranquility" for happy aging.

Looking ahead, Changning aims to become an "accelerator" for China-Japan technological collaboration. By leveraging platforms such as the Greater Hongqiao China-Japan Enterprise Exchange and Development Alliance and the "China-Japan Meeting Space," the district will facilitate government-enterprise and enterprise-enterprise exchanges. It will actively expand application scenarios, providing a full-scenario testing and promotion platform for China-Japan collaborative products, from institutions to communities. It will continue to strengthen service guarantees, actively providing the most trustworthy, efficient, and proactive government services, and striving to create a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized, thereby accelerating the implementation of cooperative projects and supporting enterprise growth. It is hoped that this matching meeting will spark more collaborative "sparks," and friends from home and abroad are welcome to invest and pursue development in Changning.

At the meeting, Yin Gang, deputy director-general of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce; Osamu Onodera, director of JETRO Beijing Representative Office and chief representative for Northeast Asia; Ma Di, deputy director of the Investment Promotion Bureau of Suzhou Industrial Park; Liang Wen'en, general manager of the Innovation Business Department of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (China) Co Ltd; and Zou Yuanhua, chairman of Shenzhen WDC Innovation Intelligence Co Ltd, among others, delivered thematic case studies and project roadshows on topics such as "Innovative Cooperation Models, Drawing a Future Blueprint – New Practices of China-Japan Industrial Cooperation in Suzhou Industrial Park" and "Challenging Risks, Co-creating the Future – A New Model for China-Japan Co-creation in Risk Management."

During the roundtable dialogue, Toyoki Oka, representative director and secretary-general of Japan-China Investment Promotion Agency; Naomi Yamashita, chairman of Japanese Club of Commerce and Industry in Shanghai and director & general manager of Mitsui & Co. (Shanghai) Lt.; Wang Gongxue, president of Bringspring Science and Technology Co Ltd; Koji Komatsu, director & general manager of Yokogawa (China) Co Ltd; and Li Xiangming, CTO of UniX AI Technology (Suzhou) Co Ltd, exchanged views on the theme "Mutual Benefit and Win-Win: Synergistic Innovation in China-Japan Advanced Technologies," sparking enthusiastic responses from the attendees.

The China-Japan Advanced Technology Exchange and Matching Meeting has been held for six consecutive sessions. This meeting was included in the Ministry of Commerce's 2025 "Invest in China" key activities. The event received strong support from numerous industry investment promotion agencies and business associations dedicated to China-Japan economic and trade cooperation, including the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China, JETRO, Japan-China Investment Promotion Agency, Japan-China Economic Association, Japanese Club of Commerce and Industry in Shanghai, Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Japan, China-Japan Digital Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Hongqiao China-Japan Enterprise Exchange and Development Alliance.

In July 2021, the Greater Hongqiao China-Japan Enterprise Exchange and Development Alliance was jointly initiated by the Changning District Development and Reform Commission, District Commerce Commission, District Investment Promotion Office, and Beixinying Subdistrict Office. For four consecutive years, the alliance has cooperated with the Investment Promotion Agency of the Ministry of Commerce to organize the China-Japan Advanced Technology Exchange and Matching Meeting, a supporting event for the China International Import Expo. Over these four years, based on the International Trade Center—the single building with the highest concentration of Japanese enterprises in China, the alliance has continuously deepened the platform functions of the Greater Hongqiao China-Japan Enterprise Alliance. The alliance has gathered over 200 high-level Japanese enterprises, including Sumitomo Electric, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, Yamato Transport, The Pokémon Company, and Yokohama Rubber, while actively promoting continued investment from companies such as Sumitomo Electric, Yokohama Rubber, and The Pokémon Company, demonstrating the essence of "two-way efforts" cooperation through concrete actions.