Czech Republic named 2018 CIFIT’s guest country of honor

The Czech Republic in Central Europe has been confirmed to be the guest country of honor for the 2018 China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), according to a confirmation letter from Bedrich Kopecký, ambassador of the Czech Republic to China.

The 2018 CIFIT is to be held in Xiamen, Fujian province from Sept 8 to 11.

As a guest country of honor, the Central European country will be in the spotlight, with a variety of promotional events at CIFIT.

The 2018 Czech Investment Roadshow in Xiamen is expected to be integrated with this year's CIFIT and a 500-square meter pavilion will be established for a China-Czech economic and trade forum and project matchmaking activities, according to the letter.

The Fujian Chamber of Commerce in Czech plans to set up a 100-square meter booth in the country's 500-square meter pavilion to display the country's favorable business climate for cross-border e-commerce companies.

At present, the organizing committee is helping the Embassy of the Czech Republic in China and the Czech Investment Bureau to prepare for the event.

The country has confirmed that Radek Vondráček, speaker of the Czech's Chamber of Deputies, will lead a delegation of high-level officials and representatives of renowned local companies to attend the fair.

Besides the exhibitions and activities during the upcoming event, the country also promoted itself by taking part in the promotional activities organized by CIFIT's organizing committee.

Ambassador Kopecký attended CIFIT's promotional conference held in Beijing on April 18 to share the investment opportunities the country has obtained from the fair.

Officials from the Czech Republic will also be sent to attend the promotional conferences to be held in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macao to promote the investment opportunities of the country.

The Czech Republic, seen as an important entrance to the European market for Chinese companies and products, is also the first country on the continent to enter into a cooperation agreement under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The European country intends to attract investment from Chinese companies in infrastructure construction, new energy, e-commerce, and tourism by attending the 2018 CIFIT.

The 2017 CIFIT witnessed the signing of 1,577 investment projects worth 532.7 billion yuan ($81 billion) and attracted more than 100,000 domestic and foreign business representatives from 107 countries and regions, 4,000 domestic and foreign enterprises, nearly 700 business groups, and 40 multinational corporations.

CIFIT is China's sole international investment event with the purpose of facilitating bilateral investment and is the largest global investment event that has the backing of the Union of International Fairs.