On the morning of November 6, the opening ceremony of California Pavilion was held in the California Pavilion of the Sixth CIIE and the 2023 California Cooperation Forum. It is reported that the California Pavilion has appeared at the CIIE for six consecutive years, and every year California enterprises and organizations in various fields such as science and technology, health care, finance, research institutions, etc. are invited to take part in the expo, with a view to help enterprises enter the Chinese market and find greater business opportunities. At the same time, it also provides favorable conditions for China and California to enhance mutual understanding and maintain close relations in international cooperation.

A delegation of California local governments, led by California Assembly member Mike Fong, Chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, attended the event. Scott Walker, Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, delivered opening remarks. Zhang Wei, Deputy Director of Shanghai Investment Promotion Service Center, John Chiang, Former Treasurer of California, Ba Cuicui, Director of the U.S. Division of the U.S. Department of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), and Keith Carson, Supervisor for Alameda County, California, delivered speeches. Mr. Shi Fang, Vice Mayor of Yangpu District, delivered a keynote speech on "Yangpu's Innovation Environment and Open Cooperation".

Yangpu is looking forward to further cooperation with California. At the forum, Mr. Shi said that Yangpu has three unique advantages: a large number of famous universities, developed manufacturing industry, and rapid development of digital economy. Currently, many American companies choose to locate their innovation centers in Yangpu precisely because of its innovation, technology and vitality. "We hope to reach out to more and more U.S. enterprises with California companies at the core, to serve them well and deepen our partnership. We also very much welcome you to take advantage of this opportunity of the CIIE to come to Yangpu more often to walk around and take a look, and seek new development opportunities together."

On the same day, during the panel discussion of the forum, five members of the California local government delegation, under the theme of "Linking China and California through Innovative Cooperation", shared their stories with the CIIE, introduced the characteristics and charms of California in different fields, and exchanged their views on the future cooperation between California and China.

"Shanghai serves as an important bridge base for China's foreign cooperation and California serves as an important bridge base for the U.S.'s foreign cooperation, and with the help of these two places, we have built a solid bridge of exchange and cooperation." Many delegation members are full of surprises and expectations for the 6th CIIE, and hope that through this platform, China and California will enhance mutual understanding and exchange, discover more opportunities, and promote more in-depth and comprehensive cooperation between the two sides.

California is an important engine of economic growth for the U.S. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by the end of 2022, California's GDP totaled $3.7 trillion, equivalent to the fifth largest economy in the world. China is California's largest trading partner and has historically been active in mutual investment with the state, with major California technology companies such as Apple, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Tesla operating in China, and a number of California SMEs having close business cooperation with Chinese companies. In 2022, U.S. imports of goods from China totaled $536.8 billion, of which California alone imported $147 billion in goods, accounting for 27.4 percent.

With the increasing number of direct flights between China and the U.S., China and California are focusing on information technology, biomedicine, smart manufacturing, climate change, green development, humanities and sports to further deepen exchanges and cooperation.