I was in China late 2021 and attended a major interntational industry fair (similar to Caton Fair) but not related to import/export. Xi and Li made keynote speeches via video.

There was no special visa granted to any of the foreign vvisitors.
2023 is still months away and my experience in late 2021 was during the period when Covid was largely under control in China, so it is not an apple-to-apple comparison.

It is not just focusing on the visa situation, airlines also need to provide more flight options, and other considerations such as as pre-travel requiremetns of testings and green code etc. all have to be part of the solution.