The Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP) was founded by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs with the approval of the State Council. The 2001 CIEP and Project Fair, jointly hosted by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, and undertaken by the China Association for International Exchange of Personnel, the China International Talent Exchange Foundation and the Jiangsu Provincial Bureau for Foreign Experts Affairs, was held in Nanjing from November 6 to 9, 2001. Cao Zhi, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress attended the conference and announced the opening of the 2001 CIEP. Wan Xueyuan, Director of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and Ji Yunshi, Governor of Jiangsu Province, attended and addressed the conference.

The conference attracted more than 200 expert organizations and talent exchange companies from 21 countries, overseas and Hong Kong and Macao training institutions and more than 2,000 domestic and foreign representatives. More than 200 foreign institutions and institutions from outside Chinese Mainland obtained the qualifications from the State Administration of Foreign Affairs, and about 4,000 cooperation intentions were reached.