Intl' trade fairs, expos reaffirm China's determination to wider opening-up

Photo taken on May 21, 2021 shows a visitor learning earthquake escape knowledge via VR equipment at the third Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade. (Xinhua/Huang Wei)

Under strict epidemic prevention and control protocols, China has recently held a series of international trade fairs and expos as a gesture to the world that the country will walk the talk on opening-up promises.

More than 4,100 companies and organizations from over 40 countries and regions participated in the recently concluded third Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT) held in the southwestern Chinese municipality of Chongqing. A total of 359 deals worth 357.8 billion yuan (about 55.6 billion U.S. dollars) were signed there.

Western China has emerged to the frontier of opening up. The trade fair will further advance the region's opening-up, expand its circle of friends and build up its influence, said China's vice minister of commerce Wang Bingnan at the opening ceremony of the WCIFIT.

Once a hinterland, Chongqing is one of the many Chinese cities that have been striving to directly connect with the world and share development opportunities with other countries.

It positioned and built itself into one of the centers of operation of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a trade and logistics passage jointly built by Singapore and provincial-level regions of western China.

Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos and other countries along the trade corridor with Chongqing and other 13 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and cities jointly released a cooperation initiative during the third WCIFIT.

According to the initiative, the parties should mobilize their strengths to facilitate trade, promote investment, improve industrial chains, optimize supply chains, enhance value chains and facilitate high-standard regional economic integration.

The corridor reduces the time and costs for the movement of goods and services between China, Southeast Asia and beyond.

"By leveraging on the corridor, our businesses will be even better placed to tap into the opportunities of trade and investment created by the continued growth and integration of economies," said Josephine Teo, Singapore's minister for communications and information.

Not only did the third WCIFIT witness China's persistent attempt to open up wider, but a number of international expos held recently have also accomplished encouraging results on global cooperation.

Visitors watch a robot making coffee at the fifth World Intelligence Congress at Tianjin Meijiang Conference and Exhibition Center in north China's Tianjin, May 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

The fifth World Intelligence Congress, a major artificial intelligence (AI) event in China highlighting frontier AI technologies and applications, ended on Sunday in north China's Tianjin Municipality.

Over the past four years, more than 10,000 scientists, entrepreneurs, educators and financiers from home and abroad have participated in the event to discuss the trends and future of smart technology.

Other expos such as the 10th China Flower Expo that opened in Shanghai on last Friday have wowed visitors with their great variety of displays.

More than 2,000 kinds of flowers and over 300 kinds of arbors took the stage of the flower expo with 180 outdoor exhibition zones and 64 indoor areas, including gardens of 12 of Shanghai's international sister cities and 10 international designers. The expo received over 20,000 visitors on its first day.

Central and local authorities have confirmed that the subsequent China International Big Data Industry Expo, China International Import Expo and other events will be held as scheduled, with a common aim to deliver the country's opening-up promises one by one.

"International expos will no doubt create new space for the development of all countries, share opportunities brought by China's economic revival and growth and inject impetus into global trade and economy which are in the grip of current challenges," Zhang Xiaotao, dean of the school of international economics and trade at Central University of Finance and Economics said.