The China International Import Expo officially kicked off on Wednesday evening, but my CIIE journey actually began a week earlier on Oct 30 with a visit to a community health center to undergo a nucleic acid test.

Yes, everyone who is attending the expo needs to get a test. It doesn't matter if you're the CEO of a participating company, a policeman, a media personnel or a janitor.

If you're going to be working at the expo venue, you're going to get swabbed.

There, I entered a blue tent that was manned by three medical workers donning protective suits, masks, face screens and goggles.

It had been months since Shanghai had a local transmission case. Walk the streets of Shanghai and you'd find that about half of the people aren't wearing masks.

The scenes at the ongoing CIIE, however, bears a stark difference. Everyone here has to wear a mask. And the security guards, policemen and volunteers across the expo site would remind you to wear your mask properly if you have not. Medical stations have also been set up all over the venue.

Given the massive scale of the event, measures have understandably been more stringent than usual. Not that I have any issues with it. These measures leave me feeling assured of my safety.

Foreign exhibitors, too, have voiced their approval. Yesterday, a German exhibitor I spoke to candidly proclaimed that all countries in the world should follow China's lead in controlling the pandemic. I cannot agree more.

"Is life in China back to normal?" my friends from home would often ask.

I don't think there's a better answer to that question than the CIIE.

Dear world, watch and learn.