BEIJING, July 30 (Xinhua) -- The fourth China-Arab States Expo (Expo) will be held in Yinchuan, capital of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, from September 5 to 8, according to the Expo's news conference.
Themed on New Opportunity, New Future, the Expo aims to carry forward China-Arab States friendship, deepen cooperation and promote common development and will explore cooperation opportunities between China and Arab States in areas such as trade and investment, Internet Plus, cross-border e-commerce, infrastructure, and capacity cooperation.
During the Expo, the China-Arab States Business Summit will be held from September 5-6 under the theme of advancing economic and trade cooperation and promoting exchanges.
Activities of the fourth China-Arab States Expo
So far, a host of enterprises and business associations from both home and abroad have expressed their intention to attend this event, such as China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), Sinosteel Group Corporation Limited (Sinosteel), China Merchants Group, Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority, and the Council of Saudi Chambers.
The Expo will set up a cooperation exhibition zone for the Belt and Road countries. Covering an area of 6,000 square meters, this exhibition zone consists of National Pavilion Exhibition Area and Brand Enterprise Exhibition Area.
Economic and trade cooperation provides inexhaustible impetus for the development of China-Arab States relations. China-Arab States economic and trade cooperation has maintained the sound momentum in recent years, according to China's Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming. In 2018, China-Arab States bilateral trade volume reached 244.3 billion U.S. dollars, up 28 percent year on year; Chinese enterprises have newly signed 35.6 billion U.S. dollar contracts in Arab States, up 9 percent year on year. Going forward, China and Arab States will continue to strengthen alignment in mutual development strategies and contribute to Belt and Road construction together.
China-Arab States Expo is a national comprehensive platform for China and Arab States to build the Belt and Road together and also presents an important opportunity for Ningxia to promote the development of an open economy, said Liu Kewei, vice chairman of the People's Government of Ningxia. Over the past five years, Ningxia's imports and exports have maintained steady growth. During the period, this region utilized 1.06 billion U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment and established 148 enterprises in 30 countries and regions overseas. In the single year of 2018, the outbound direct investment made by the autonomous region hit 500 million U.S. dollars.
The fourth China-Arab States Expo is jointly hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the People's Government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Edited by Niu Huizhe, niuhuizhe@xinhua.org)
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