Peak gathering wins kudos, as a window into China’s opening-up
The 10th China-Northeast Asia Expo, which was held from Sept 1 to 6 in 2015 in Changchun, Jilin province, proved a great success and won praise from participants from home and abroad.
“The expo is the fruit of Northeast Asia’s regional cooperation and a window into Northeast China’s reform and opening-up,” VicePremier Wang Yang said in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the event.
The economies of the countries in the region are highly complementary, and the steady development of intra-regional trade and sub-regional cooperation in Northeast Asia has provided stimulus to regional economic cooperation, he said.
Around 100,000 exhibitors, including more than 10,000 from 111 countries and regions around the world, participated in the event, according to the expo’s executive committee at a news conference highlighting the achievements of the event.
More than 63 high-level politicians and diplomatic envoys visited the expo.
Moreover, 250 senior executives in charge of Chinese business at Fortune Global 500 companies and largescale multinational corporations, as well as 96 senior executives of top domestic enterprises, showed up at the expo.
More than $800 million in foreign trade was generated by the event, $663 million of which was in exports. Meanwhile, the expo’s domestic trade volumes totaled nearly 2.3 billion yuan ($350 million).
Agreements for 325 investment projects were signed at the event, with the amount of investment totaling 220 billion yuan. Of the projects, 74 attracted investments of more than 100 million yuan.
A total of 47 sideline activities were held during the expo, including 12 high-level forums, 28 economic and trade exchange events and seven meetings between international organizations and local governments.
The expo had nine exhibition pavilions and a total of 3,306 exhibition booths, compared with 2,558 at the previous expo. Of the booths, 1,191 were for overseas exhibitors, an increase of 15.4 percent over the previous expo.
The number of overseas enterprises at the expo, which came from 29 countries and regions including South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States, reached 618, accounting for 54 percent of all companies participating in the expo.
The number of stands for exhibitors from other provinces reached 867, up by 38.9 percent from the previous expo.
Moreover, the expo set up pavilions for Internet Plus technology and the medical and healthcare industry for the first time.
The fifth Northeast Asia Think Tank Forum was held on the sidelines of the expo. Well-known academics from Northeast Asia, Europe and the US were invited to discuss regional economic cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Nearly 300 Chinese and foreign e-commerce companies in sectors including express deliveries and e-payments were invited to attend the meeting. This contributed to the establishment of a regional cross-border e-commerce network, according to the organizers.
More than 1,200 reporters from over 200 Chinese and foreign media outlets covered the event. The expo also launched a WeChat account to attract further public interest.