Shanghai Sets Nov. 1-12 Road Curbs for China’s Import Expo

Photo: U.S. Embassy in China, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (file photo, November 2023). Then-U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns at a California wine stand at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

Shanghai police will impose temporary traffic controls around the city’s main convention complex from Nov. 1 to Nov. 12 for the ninth China International Import Expo (CIIE), with truck bans, a car-free zone around the venue and police checks at eight expressway entry points into the city. The Shanghai CIIE traffic controls were set out in a Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau notice dated Oct. 29 and published by the city government on Oct. 30. The expo itself runs Nov. 5 to 10 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in the Hongqiao area of western Shanghai.

Police also announced 31 “facilitation” measures for exhibitors and residents, including on-arrival visas for some foreign business visitors. The rules matter for American companies too: U.S. firms will again occupy the largest exhibition area of any country, according to Chinese organizers.

Where and when the roads close

The tightest restrictions surround the venue itself. From Nov. 4 to Nov. 10, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., motor vehicles other than regular buses and taxis are barred inside the area bounded by Huizhuo Road, Zhuguang Road, Songze Avenue and Laigang Road, along with several nearby elevated-road ramps, the notice said. On the morning of Nov. 5, from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m., all motor vehicles are barred from that zone, and Huaxiang Road between Shenlan Road and Suhong Road closes to both motor vehicles and bicycles.

Truck restrictions reach further out:

• Trucks are banned in both directions on the G50 Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway between the G15 and the S20 Outer Ring Expressway from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Nov. 4 and 5.
• Trucks and motorcycles are barred from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Nov. 4 to 10, inside the area enclosed by Huqingping Highway, Panlong Road, Tianshan West Road and Huaxiang Road.
• Non-motorized vehicles are barred from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Nov. 4 to 10, on four road segments next to the venue, and pedestrians are also kept off them on the morning of Nov. 5.
• Trucks are barred from westbound Zhuluxi Road between Mingzhu Road and Huaxu Highway around the clock from Nov. 9 to Nov. 12.

From 8 a.m. on Nov. 1 until midnight on Nov. 10, police will run centralized checks at the provincial entry points of eight expressways into Shanghai: the G2, G15, S26, G50, S32, G60, S36 and G40. The Zhuqiao off-ramp of the G15 in the Ningbo-bound direction will close. Police said they may start or end the controls early or late, and widen or shrink them, as security needs require. They advised visitors to use Metro Lines 2 and 17 and buses.

Smaller zones than past expos, police say

In a separate list of 31 measures published by the city, police said the permit-only motor-vehicle zone shrinks from 2 square kilometers to 1.1 square kilometers this year, and its daily hours from 6 a.m.-9 p.m. to 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Restrictions on bicycles and e-bikes shrink from a 3-square-kilometer zone to the four road segments. The venue will have 28 security and ID checkpoints, five drop-off points outside the grounds and four inside the fence. These comparisons with earlier expos come from the police and have not been independently confirmed.

By TBR’s calculation from the police figures, the vehicle permit zone is 45% smaller than before and the daily control window is four hours shorter, 12 hours instead of 15.

Visa shortcuts for foreign exhibitors

For the first time, foreign professionals linked to Shanghai’s Eastern Hub International Business Cooperation Zone can obtain port visas on site with a CIIE invitation letter, police said. Foreign exhibitors invited by companies and institutions in the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui can apply for port visas entirely online. A port visa is issued on arrival at the border rather than by a consulate in advance.

American companies at the expo

China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Yan Dong told an Oct. 16 State Council Information Office briefing that 162 countries, regions and international organizations will take part, with 4,142 overseas companies exhibiting and total space topping 440,000 square meters for the first time. He said U.S. companies will have the largest exhibition area for the eighth time, up 1,500 square meters from last year, according to a Xinhua report reposted by the CIIE organizer !Unverified claim, Xinhua (Chinese state media).

The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are organizing the American Food and Agriculture Pavilion for the fourth year in a row, in Hall 8.1 (booth 8.1A3-02), covering 400 square meters, AmCham Shanghai said. Its 18 exhibitors include the U.S. Meat Export Federation, the USA Rice Federation, the Ginseng Board of Wisconsin, the California Wine Institute, the Almond Board of California, Driscoll’s, Stine Seed and Morton Salt. AmCham will also help run a U.S.-China agricultural trade dialogue on the afternoon of Nov. 6, hosted by the U.S. Soybean Export Council, the U.S. Grains & BioProducts Association and Chinese partners.

Foreign leaders are expected too. China’s Foreign Ministry said at its Oct. 30 briefing that Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, visiting China Nov. 2 to 7, “will first land in Shanghai, where he will attend the ninth China International Import Expo.”

The expo comes as trade frictions with Washington continue, including a new FCC rule on Chinese electronics test labs. Earlier this week we covered Shanghai’s draft taxi and robotaxi law and China’s central bank’s new daily repo operations.

Sources

• Shanghai government: police notice on Nov. 1-12 temporary traffic controls (Chinese)
• Shanghai government: police announce 31 facilitation measures for the ninth CIIE (Chinese)
• AmCham Shanghai: American Food and Agriculture Pavilion at the 9th CIIE
• China Foreign Ministry: Oct. 30, 2026 press conference transcript

Additional sources

• CIIE organizer (reposting Xinhua, Chinese state media): U.S. companies to top CIIE exhibition area for eighth straight year