Ahead of the 100-day countdown to the second China International Import Expo, organizers announced a slew ofsupporting policies and briefed the preparation progress at a news conference held in Shanghai on Friday.

　　More than 3,000 foreign companies from 150countries and regions have confirmed the participation in the expo in November,deputy director of CIIE bureau Sun Chenghai said.

　　Thirty-nine domestic trade missions,consisting of 600 sub-trade missions from provinces, autonomous regions,municipalities, have also formed, he said, adding that the registration forprofessional visitors has opened since July 1.

　　New sections on elderly care, virtual reality and augmented reality will be added,and the expo will set up outdoor area for experience of autonomous driving andwinter sports.

　　"The exhibition area, new products release, and number of fortune 500 companies and industry leading companies have all exceeded those of last year's expo," Sun said.

　　The General Administration of Customs has established a special customs office at the expo venue, National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, to oversee the clearance for foreign exhibits,and provide one-stop services for the expo's exhibiting companies.

　　Dang Xiaohong, deputy head of thedepartment of port control of GAC, said on Thursday that the customs will allowthe expo organizers to provide unified tax guarantees for participatingcompanies, and facilitate approval and quarantine procedures for exhibit clearance.

　　The customs has introduced 13 facilitate policies for the expo this years, and already published lists of restricted items and prohibited items on its website for perspective exhibitors.

　　"We will extend the time for ATA Carnetfrom six month to one year permanent," she said. "And we have made this policy permanent for the CIIE and will introduce it to other import-expoexhibitions in the country."

　　TheMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has delegated the power for approvalon import and export of endangered aquatic plants and animals to Shanghaimunicipality.

　　Shanghai Intellectual PropertyAdministration said it will give priority in reviewing the applications from the expo's exhibitors, and it will set up service window in the expo's venue.

　　The expo is the world's first national-level expo dedicated to import. Last year, the first expo concluded with the value of intended deals topping over $57.8 billion.

　　ShangYuying, deputy secretary general of Shanghai municipal government, said Shanghai has seen great spillover effect of the expo. Up to July, theyear-around transaction platforms in the city have listed more than 13,000 products of 558 exhibitors from the first expo and imported goods worth 75.2billion yuan.

　　重点词汇

　　policies政策; 方针; 原则; 为人之道; 保险单; policy的复数

　　participants参与者; 参加者; participant的复数

　　countdown倒数读秒，倒计时; 大事临近的时期

　　Expo展览会; 博览会

　　organizers组织者; organizer的复数