Yunnan making all the right connections for trade, business

Through two dedicated exhibition zones at the South and Southeast Asia Commodity Expo and Investment Fair, Yunnan province showed its latest achievements in opening-up and development.

From left: A Huawei representative introduces company products to a visitor. China Mobile’s Kunming branch company is the operator of the 5G experience zone. 

One zone was the Belt and Road Exhibition Hall, which showed the province's involvement in the initiative since it was proposed by the Chinese government six years ago.

Yunnan was a hub of the ancient southern Silk Road because of its easy access to the rest of China and the South and Southeast Asia regions.

The province is now playing an important role in the Belt and Road Initiative with improved connectivity and strengthened economic and cultural cooperation with neighboring regions.

Yunnan has developed a transport network consisting of highways, railways, air routes and waterways to neighboring countries.

On display at the Belt and Road hall were renowned investment destinations in the province and local enterprises active in the BRI regions.

The investment destinations included the Dianzhong New Area, the Kunming Economic and Technological Development Zone, the Kunming Bonded Area in the provincial capital of Kunming, as well as the Honghe Bonded Area in Honghe prefecture.

According to officials from Kunming Bonded Area, the zone welcomes businesses from across the world. They said that investors can enjoy a raft of incentives in import tariffs and convenient logistics.

The Kunming Economic and Technological Development Zone is a major base in Yunnan for advanced manufacturing. The zone's officials said they will use the expo to help local enterprises expand globally and attract investors from neighboring regions.

The province also has three cross-border economic cooperation zones, nine border cooperation zones and 25 land ports to conduct trade and investment with its neighbors.

In addition to the zones and parks, local companies displayed their cutting-edge products, solutions and technologies to demonstrate the level of the high-tech and manufacturing industries in the province.

For instance, the recently licensed 5G communications technology has made the expo a smart event.

All of the event's venues were covered by the 5G network and there was a 5G experience zone to show the latest information and digital technologies developed in Yunnan.

The zone featured ultrahigh-definition 5G displays for a live broadcast of the event's activities.

There were exhibitions to show the history, industrial trends and applications of 5G technologies in China and the world.

Also on display were robots, artificial intelligence and virtual reality equipment, smartphones and computer games based on or connected to the 5G network. Such gadgets offered a highly interactive experience to visitors as they felt, touched and operated them.

According to an executive from China Mobile's Yunnan branch, which was the 5G service provider for the expo and operated the 5G experience zone, the downtown area of Kunming is expected to be covered by the 5G network by the end of September.

An online technology transfer platform between China and South and Southeast Asia was launched on June 13, which means advanced technologies developed by Yunnan, as well as the rest of China, can benefit more businesses in Yunnan's neighboring countries.

Editor: Wang Shixue