SHANGHAI, July 25 (Xinhua) -- With just over 100 days to go until the eighth China International Import Expo (CIIE), recruitment for the ninth CIIE was officially launched in Shanghai on Friday, and over 40 foreign companies have already signed up to exhibit, according to the event organizer.

The ninth CIIE has already secured a contracted exhibition space of 30,000 square meters. Over 20 companies, including L'Oréal, GE Healthcare, Honeywell, Jaguar Land Rover and Lesaffre, were among the first to commit to a ninth consecutive year of participation.

Vincent Boinay, president of L'Oréal North Asia Zone and chief executive officer (CEO) of L'Oréal China, said during a recruitment launch ceremony on Friday that thanks to the growing "spillover effect" of the CIIE, the company has launched more than 10 new brands, dozens of beauty tech products and hundreds of new items in China over the past seven years, accelerating the entry of international products into the Chinese market.

The expo has not only witnessed but also boosted the development of companies, said Sheng Wenhao, CEO of Theland Asia Pacific Region. Through the CIIE, Theland has signed deals with dozens of professional buyers, covering more than 5,000 offline stores across 25 provincial-level regions in China.

"Participating in the CIIE means embracing opportunities for us. Over the past seven years, we have signed more than 10 strategic cooperation agreements for fruit imports, with a contract value of up to 200 million U.S. dollars secured at the seventh CIIE last year," said Guo Min, Joy Wing Mau Chile Spa's deputy marketing director in China. ■