More than 2,000 years ago, southwest China's Yunnan province expanded its business to its south and north, and connected with the South Asian subcontinent for the first time. The road stretching from south to north was once the southern Silk Road in ancient times, along which Yunnan served as an important pathway.
At the intersection of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Yunnan has contributed significantly to promoting all-round cooperation as well as common development with Southeast Asian countries.
From June 14 to 20, Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan, also known as the city of spring, will play host to the widely watched 5th China-South Asia Expo and the 25th China Kunming Import and Export Fair.
The expo, co-hosted by China's Ministry of Commerce and the provincial government of Yunnan, was inaugurated in 2013, and has evolved into a main carrier for reinforcing economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges with South Asia and Southeast Asia, and an important platform for the Belt and Road construction.
The expo has grown continually with better-designed pavilions and increasing numbers of participants and visitors.
The upcoming expo will consist of 19 exhibition halls, such as the Guest of Honor Pavilion, the South Asia Pavilion, the Southeast Asia Pavilion, the Overseas Pavilion, the Domestic Pavilion, the Tourism Pavilion, the Agriculture Pavilion, the Manufacturing Pavilion, the New Materials Pavilion, the Machinery Pavilion, the Bio-Medicine and Big Health Pavilion, the Cultural Creativity Pavilion, the Wood Craft Pavilion, and the Food and Life Pavilion. The expo will attract an estimated 80-plus participating countries and regions. There will be approximately 8,500 standard booths and an exhibition area of 190,000 square meters, half of which will be designated for professional exhibitions. The expo will also host a series of events, including the China-South Asia Business Forum, the China-Southeast Asia Business Forum, an event series surrounding cooperation in the Lancang-Mekong Region, the GMS Economic Corridor Event Week, the China-Southeast Asia Think Tank Forum, the China-South Asia-Southeast Asia Technology Transfer and Innovation Cooperation Conference, the ASEAN Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Conference, the Yunnan-Taiwan Meeting, and the Lancang-Mekong Festival.
Eyeing closer economic and trade ties, and mutual benefits and win-win results, the expo aims to conduct high-level dialogues and build a broad consensus, with a focus on strengthening people-to-people exchanges and contributing to mutual learning between civilizations. We hope the upcoming China-South Asia Expo will provide a platform for participants to further communication, deepen mutual trust, reach a consensus, engage in practical cooperation, and deliver win-win benefits.