With China emerging as a key hub for industrial innovation, foreign manufacturers participating in the eighth China International Import Expo in Shanghai said they are shifting from "exhibitors" to "innovation partners", underscoring the country's growing weight in the international business landscape.

Many opportunities come from China's continued push for high-level opening-up, industrial upgrading and green transformation. These efforts, executives said, are creating a more open and resilient business environment that fosters collaboration, technological advancement and sustainable growth.

Speaking at their booths during the ongoing CIIE, they said China's vast market potential, complete industrial ecosystem and strong policy support are encouraging foreign corporations to deepen local partnerships, expand research and development investment, and accelerate innovation for both the Chinese and global markets.

Ingersoll Rand Inc, a United States-based industrial products and solutions provider, unveiled several global premieres and announced plans to further expand its research, innovation and sustainability efforts in China during the CIIE this year.

Arnold Li, the group's senior vice-president, said that over 95 percent of Ingersoll Rand's products sold in China are now locally produced, and the company's research and innovation center in Shanghai is driving tailored innovation for the Chinese market.

As an eight-time CIIE participant, Ingersoll Rand showcased products from 10 of its family brands, debuting a dry screw vacuum pump and a maglev turbo blower for wastewater treatment.

"We will continue to expand our local footprint in China by investing where our customers are growing, particularly in new industrial clusters," said Li.

Highlighting that the ever-evolving CIIE has become a prominent "golden signboard" for attracting foreign investment to China, Henry Ding, president for China at 3M — another US industrial conglomerate — said the company has brought innovative solutions that range from industrial manufacturing to daily consumption to the CIIE this year.

3M, also an eight-time CIIE participant, launched an expansion project for its tape production line at a manufacturing site in Shanghai in August, marking a significant boost to its local capacity and innovation capabilities.

Completed within 12 months, the project has increased production capacity by 50 percent, enabling the company to better meet the surging demand for low-pollution, lightweight and high-strength materials in China's fast-growing consumer electronics and automotive electrification industries.

Also sharing a positive outlook on the Chinese market, Wang Jiayu, regional representative for China at Germany's Freudenberg Group, said that China serves as both a crucial innovation hub and stable manufacturing base for Freudenberg's global operations.

Running 27 factories across China, Freudenberg is expanding into strategic new sectors aligned with China's industrial upgrade, particularly in humanoid robotics. Together with local partners, the company will build a humanoid cocreation center in Shanghai.

The center will feature testing facilities and application exploration zones where Freudenberg will collaborate with industry partners on sealing, lubrication and vibration control technologies.

"Rather than just a production site, China represents an essential component of our global innovation network and supply chain resilience," she added.

In addition to showcasing over 10 industrial artificial intelligence products and solutions at its exhibition area during the ongoing CIIE, German company Siemens AG rolled out several industrial AI-related initiatives at the expo.

Xiao Song, chairman, president and CEO of Siemens China, said that as a committed participant at the CIIE since its first edition, Siemens looks forward to leveraging this open and cooperative platform to fully harness its strengths in data and integrated hardware-software solutions.

"We will work with Chinese companies to deeply integrate AI into industrial scenarios, and leverage industrial AI to drive China's digitalization and decarbonization to new heights," said Xiao.