The Thai food and drink maker TCP Group will debut its new product at the upcoming China International Import Expo (CIIE), according to Supachai Junkeiat, president of TCP China, who described CIIE as a tried-and-true great place for Chinese market launches.

"CIIE has been fantastic to us because it allows us to bring our most exciting products into the powerful Chinese market," Junkeiat told CGTN.

This year will be the third time TCP shows up at the Shanghai fair. Last year, it got its own booth for the first time, and what it calls a warm welcome in an economic environment made uncertain by the pandemic.

The company made a big commitment last year: an over 1-billion-yuan ($160-million) investment in China in the next three years.

"China is the first major economy to grow post-pandemic, we are 100 percent confident of it," Junkeiat said.

That investment will cover everything from "upstream to downstream" and "from product development to manufacturing." Junkeiat said the company wasn't just thinking of marketing and sales in the Chinese market but looking for long-term development.

These kinds of all-in moves are becoming more common now for Thai companies in China, said Phaichit Viboontanasarn, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce in China.

"Companies are in here for the long term," he said. "China has transformed from manufacturer of the world to become the 'market of the world,' and now it has a highly developed ecosystem for business."

"I consider China to be the gravitational force that pulls business to it," Viboontanasarn said.

For Thai companies taking part in the CIIE, he also pointed to a new sentiment shared by companies big and small.

"CIIE has become this global platform that not only opens up opportunities in China," he said. "With all global players here, it has also come to be the stepping stone to other markets."