Eric's Insight: Yunnan embraces CSA expo with openness

The 6th China-South Asia Exposition and the 26th China Kunming Import & Export Fair will be held in Kunming from November 19 to 22, both physically and virtually, according to a news release on October 28.

The 6th CSA Expo and the 26th Kunming Fair will take place in Kunming late November. Photo/Yunnan Daily

The biennial CSA expo vividly epitomes China's opening-up to the outside world in the new era. While increasing the Yunnan influence, the expo has grown to be a key platform for China to cooperate with South Asia, Southeast Asia and beyond.

Since the expo was incepted in 2012, the international community has seen great opportunities from the Chinese development. Data showed that 89 countries, regions and international organizations participated in the past five sessions of the expo, and 2,770 projects were signed at the events.

The total value of the signed projects exceeded 3.7 trillion yuan, and the gross contracted value of Chinese enterprises in South Asian countries reached 296.624 billion US dollars, accounting for nearly 10% of the total contracted value of Chinese overseas projects.

In hosting the past expo sessions, Yunnan blazed green channels for international exhibitors and investors, and initiatives for opening-up were proposed by the province for the enlargement of the circle of friends.

Step by step, the CSA expo became a high-level international fair for international trade, investment negotiations and cultural exchanges, and it offered a new approach for South Asia, Southeast Asia and other regions to share Chinese benefits under the Belt and Road Initiative.

With the theme of "New Opportunities for New Development," this year’s expo will be held both physically and virtually. The physical displays at the Kunming Dianchi International Convention and Exhibition Center will be the expo mainstay, while the virtual exhibitions will rest on digital platforms of the China-South Asia Expo.

Featuring a vast communication platform and an efficient service system, the high-caliber expo will create even more business opportunities for Yunnan development, gathering wisdom for innovative achievements. Through sharing benefits with the neighboring countries, the expo will make the regional future more promising, and contribute to the Chinese neighborhood diplomacy.

The expo has never been a Chinese solo. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress pointed out: “China is committed to its fundamental national policy of opening to the outside world and pursues a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up. It strives to create new opportunities for the world with its own development and to contribute its share to building an open global economy that delivers greater benefits to all peoples.”

An open China with a hospitable Yunnan looks forward to creating opportunities in exchanges with other countries, solving problems in cooperation, and working together to create a better tomorrow for mankind. From first contacts to proficiency and from first contracts to in-depth cooperation, we believe that international exhibitors will jointly make the expo a great success, sharing the Chinese development and admiring the Yunnan sights.

Writing by Liu Xin (Yunan Net); Trans-editing by Wang Shixue