China-Eurasia Expo
Prior to the China-Eurasia expo, a lower profile annual trade fair was held in Urumqi every year since 1992 called the Urumqi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair. In 2010 this fair was upgraded to be the leading trade platform in the region. This trading event is not just for Central and South Asia but also to the entire Asia and Europe. The 1st China-Eurasia Expo is held on September 1, 2011 in Urumqi Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The sixth China-Eurasia Expo, a three-day international fair, opened Thursday in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in 2018. Under the theme of "The Belt and Road -- Wide Discussion, Joint Contribution and Shared Benefits", the expo drew participants from more than 700 domestic and foreign companies.
The exhibition area covered 70,000 square meters, with various display zones involving investment and cooperation, poverty alleviation, and featured products. Since China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, China has deepened pragmatic cooperation with other countries under the framework of the initiative, yielding substantial achievements, Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua said at the opening ceremony of the 2018 China-Eurasia Expo.
China is willing to expand areas of cooperation with other countries, create new trade growth points, enhance investment and industrial cooperation, and speed up interconnectivity networks through the projects in railways, highways, ports, energy, and telecom.
China will deepen reform in all areas, expand opening-up, improve trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, according to a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Enterprises in Asian and European countries are encouraged to seize the opportunity and work together with their Chinese counterparts to develop more extensive and in-depth cooperation. The central government grants much support for Xinjiang to open wider to outside world and play a bigger role in China's opening up.The China-Eurasia Expo serves as an important platform for exchanges and cooperation between different countries and regions.
The 2018 expo attracted over 700 Chinese and foreign companies, including world's leading companies and China's corporate stars. Latest data from China's Ministry of Commerce showed that trade between China and countries and regions participating in the BRI exceeded $5 trillion recently, growing at 1.1 percent annually on average over the past five years.
Chinese overseas direct investment or ODI in BRI participants was more than $70 billion, and has been growing at 7.2 percent annually on average. The organizing committee of the expo said that the event has emerged as an important platform for exchanges and cooperation between China and Eurasian countries. It helped showcase Xinjiang's rapid development, the committee said.
The previous five editions saw nearly 35 heads of state and directors of international organizations deliberate with more than 1,100 ministerial-level guests to forge cooperation and trade initiatives.