Photo taken on Oct. 12, 2018 shows the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), main venue of the upcoming China International Import Expo (CIIE), in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

by Fu Yiming, He Miao

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming China International Import Expo (CIIE) "reaffirms commitment" from the Chinese government to its opening-up policy," Erik Bresling, CEO of Danisa told Xinhua recently in an exclusive interview.

Danisa, the internationally well known brand of the traditional Danish Butter Cookies, is the crown jewel of the Danish Speciality Foods, a Danish company, led by Bresling, that has enjoyed strong growth in China. The company is one of over a dozen Danish companies that announced their participation in the first CIIE which will be held in Shanghai from November 5 to 10, aiming to seek new business opportunities.

"Danisa, like many other Danish brands, is the beneficiary of China's opening-up to the world policy," said Bresling, emphasizing that "even though Danisa is not the first company to enter China, we have been marketing and running business since early 1990s and enjoying tremendous growth."

"Now, we are the market leader in butter cookies category in China. We are very grateful for the strong support from Chinese government and warm welcome from our Chinese consumers," he added.

Bresling believes that in the next five years, China's huge demand to import products and services globally, "provides a historic opportunity for enterprises across the world to enter the huge Chinese market". And the CIIE event "serves as a drive for business people in the world to market their products in China and for Chinese consumers".

"On top of that, we believe that through this event we will have better exposure in China and find more partners to help us distribute our products to not only tier-1/tier-2 cities, but also further into tier-3/tier-4/tier-5 cities," he added.

Year 2018 is also marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up. Bresling believes 40 years of China's opening-up benefited other countries globally by providing "good products with reasonable prices"; meanwhile, with the huge purchasing power of Chinese consumers, "the world also enjoys exporting their products to China".

"We have been witnessing China's robust growth in the past 20 years. In the meantime, we have seen Chinese government's determination of opening up to the world, plus hard-working spirits from its people during the years we are doing business in China," Bresling emphasized.

Eyeing ahead, Bresling "strongly believe that China's economy will continue to grow and consumer spending will increase solidly."

"Besides, Chinese consumers will embrace better and higher standard of products. So for Danisa, this is huge potential we see to increase our sales in China," he said.

"As the beneficiary of China's opening-up to the world policy and market leader in butter cookies category in China, we are happy to participate in the event and will give our full support accordingly, " Bresling said.

"We wish CIIE a huge success this year!" he added.