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Two-Way Trade Communication
Commodity and investment expo in southwest China facilitates trade and exchange with South and Southeast Asia
By Lu Yan  ·  2019-06-24  ·   Source: NO.26 JUNE 27, 2019
An exhibitor sells scarfs at the weeklong 2019 SSACEIF on June 13 (LU YAN)

It was Mohamed Risan's first time in China. The Maldivian, who is manager of IR Supplies, a food manufacturing company, came to the 2019 South and Southeast Asia Commodity Expo and Investment Fair (SSACEIF) in Kunming, capital city of Yunnan Province in southwest China, to promote the company's products, such as coconut candy.

"I hope that our presence at this expo can help more Chinese people know about the Maldives' local delicacies, and also enable us to know more about China," Risan told Beijing Review.

A folk dance in progress at the 2019 South and Southeast Asia Commodity Expo and Investment Fair in Kunming, Yunnan Province, on June 12 (XINHUA)

A feast of goods

Held from June 12 to 18, the SSACEIF focused on trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges between China, South and Southeast Asian countries, and the world beyond. Under the theme "A better gateway and powerhouse for shared development and prosperity," the weeklong event attracted more than 3,000 enterprises from China and some 70 other countries and regions to showcase their products and investment projects. Among the enterprises, nearly half were foreign, including 20 top 500 enterprises in the world.

A variety of products with unique local features—jewelries, carpets, spices, handicrafts, food, beverages and clothes—from different regions in China, South and Southeast Asia and other countries were on display.

Li Libin, 30, a Chinese exhibitor, was drawn to the dazzling handmade shoes at the Indian booths. "I could buy a lot of daily necessities from the different country stalls at this expo. More importantly, I learned a lot about other countries' tradition, fashion and customs," she said.

According to the organizer of the trade fair, this year, India had a large number of booths, around 240, demonstrating growing engagement between China and India on the trade and investment front.

The 170,000-square-meter area had 17 pavilions with nearly 7,500 booths. Besides the pavilions specially designed for South and Southeast Asian products, there were also themed pavilions such as the biomedicine and health pavilion, green food pavilion, green energy pavilion, culture and tourism pavilion, and the Belt and Road investment and cooperation pavilion.

It was the first time that there was a Belt and Road investment and cooperation pavilion at the fair. The special pavilion aimed to build an efficient communication platform for investors, and demonstrate Yunnan's advantages of opening up, development and opportunities under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The SSACEIF has set up a broad platform for products from neighboring countries to access the Chinese market and facilitates the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chen Hao, Secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, said at the opening ceremony of the expo on June 12.

Nalin Bandara Jayamaha, Deputy Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade of Sri Lanka, said China has been helping Sri Lanka export its goods in various ways. "I believe the two countries will enjoy more cooperation in the future," he said. Sri Lanka was the theme country this year, while Cambodia was the guest country of honor. Special exhibition areas were designated for both countries.

With sound development in recent years, Bangladesh is trying to turn itself into an important manufacturing hub in Asia and attract more investment from regional countries, for which the SSACEIF provides a good opportunity. Bangladeshi Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi hoped that deeper trade and investment cooperation between China and Bangladesh would stimulate more vitality in the region. "This grand expo is providing a huge platform to private businesses for investment opportunities. We hope it'll contribute meaningfully to bring the peoples and economies of these regions closer," Munshi said.

According to official preliminary statistics, the expo received 350,000 visits, while 407 projects were signed and a series of sideline activities, such as dialogues, forums and signing ceremonies, were held.

Shared development

In recent years, Yunnan has made good use of its natural resources and favorable location while improving connectivity, stepping up opening up and optimizing the business environment. Sharing borders with Viet Nam, Laos and Myanmar, Yunnan has already become a window for China to expand cooperation with South and Southeast Asia. According to statistics from Kunming Customs, Yunnan's import and export volume exceeded 87 billion yuan ($12.56 billion) in the first five months of this year, up 13.6 percent over the previous year. Among that, the province's trade with ASEAN countries and South Asian countries was over 44 billion yuan ($6.35 billion) and 1.5 billion yuan ($217 million), registering year-on-year growths of 13.1 percent and 75.4 percent, respectively.

More projects are underway. For instance, the under construction China-Thailand railway will connect Kunming and Thai capital Bangkok, facilitating economic and trade exchanges. Another railway, the China-Laos railway, will run from Yuxi in central Yunnan through border landport Mohan, eventually extending to Laos capital Vientiane, boosting development along the route.

Mohan is an important stop on the China-Laos railway. It is part of the first China-Laos cross-border economic cooperation zone, the Mohan-Boten Economic Cooperation Zone. Signed in 2015, the project, a model of China-Laos cooperation, is developing cross-border trade, logistics, export and import processing, tourism, and finance. A series of preferential policies for investment services, finance and taxation have been introduced to support its development.

"We want to utilize our regional advantages and build the zone into a corridor connecting China's southwest region and Southeast Asia and boosting the friendly exchanges between the two," said Liu Jiankun, a staff with the Mohan Development Pilot Zone.

Lu Lishun is a sales manager with Lao Boten Tourism Business Service Co. Ltd, a sub-company of the Haicheng Group, developer of the economic cooperation zone. He has witnessed the development of border town Boten, where he started working four years ago in Laos. When he first arrived there, the place was underdeveloped and people earned little. Today, the town has become modernized.

"The development of the economic cooperation zone has boosted local employment and people's lives," Lu said.

While promoting economic development and cooperation, the economic cooperation zone also pays attention to the preservation and promotion of local traditional culture. Scenic spots and historical monuments and sites, such as temples and an ancient town, have been renovated, serving as tourist attractions.

At a promotion during the expo, the administrative committee of the Mohan-Boten Economic Cooperation Zone signed strategic agreements with 19 Chinese companies in medicine, business, financing, culture and tourism.

In the future, the bilateral economic cooperation zone will make full use of its geographical, policy and transportation advantages to develop business, a financial exhibition and fair industry, tourism, logistics and processing of international bonded goods to become an important development engine for the China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor.

(Reporting from Kunming,Yunnan Province)

Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar

Comments to luyan@bjreview.com

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