People look at a 5G+ Hydrogen-powered unmanned tractor during the 13th Central China Investment and Trade Exposition (Expo Central China 2024) in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 31, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)
BEIJING, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The 13th Central China Investment and Trade Exposition (Expo Central China 2024) was held from May 31 to June 2 in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, facilitating trade and investment and unlocking the development momentum of the country's central region.
China's central region is comprised of the six provinces of Shanxi, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi. The country has highlighted the need to accelerate the rise of its central region as part of its efforts to promote coordinated regional development.
-- Merchants gathering to tap market potential of central China region
The expo has attracted the participation of over 1,000 businesses from 32 countries and regions, according to organizers.
Seizing the opportunity and tapping local market has become a common pursuit among merchants during the rise of the central region.
Walmart has opened 16 Walmart shopping malls, 2 Sam's Club stores, and 1 logistics distribution center in Hunan for the past two decades. Central China is an area that Walmart has always paid close attention to, said Yang Yi, a head of Walmart China.
"We are optimistic about the Chinese market, especially the rise of the country's central region," said Pan Yunxi, a head of TKM Group, who also added that more and more companies are moving from the coastal areas of China to invest in the central and western regions.
Expo Central China has become an important platform for accelerating the rise of the central region and expanding international economic and trade cooperation of the six provinces in the central region, said Ling Ji, Vice Minister of Ministry of Commerce (MOC).
-- Innovation injecting momentum into industrial growth
Approximately 40,000 square meters of exhibition area hosted dazzling high-tech products brought by the provinces in the central region such as advanced light SAR remote sensing satellites, 5G + hydrogen energy unmanned tractors, quantum encryption headsets and carbon fiber composite material light sports aircraft.
"This light sports aircraft uses gasoline as fuel and can fly 1,300 kilometers with a full tank," said Deng Yu, general manager of Starair Aircraft Co., Ltd.
The independently designed and manufactured carbon fiber composite material light sports aircraft has obtained civil aviation airworthiness certification. The company has successfully delivered more than 260 aircraft, with a market share of more than 70 percent in China, Deng added.
After years of development, the central region has stepped up scientific and technological innovation and developed a number of leading industries.
Hunan homes five of the top 50 engineering machinery enterprises in the world. Hubei's optoelectronic information industry accounts for half of China's total scale. Automobile industry tops as leading industry in Anhui, and out of every four exported cars in China, one is made in Anhui.
Currently, the provinces in the central region are promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and cultivating and expanding emerging industries.
According to statistics, the proportion of national-level strategic emerging industry clusters and national advanced manufacturing industry clusters in the central region accounts for 27.3 percent and 17.8 percent of the national total respectively.
-- Coordinated regional development forming synergy
The expo set up six promotion event to focus on modern petrochemical industry, new energy industry, new energy vehicle industry, electronic information industry, new material industry, etc.
At an investment promotion event, the governors of the six provinces in the central region were invited to have an on-site dialogue, advocating for the advantageous industrial chains of the six provinces, gathering the strength of the six provinces, and jointly promoting the coordinated development of industries in the central region.
The expo featured four major activities and more than 20 thematic activities and site visits. Organizers have also scheduled a roundtable for multinationals in attendance, as well as a matchmaking event for multinationals and local government departments and businesses.
At this year's expo, a total of 284 projects were inked, with a total investment of 251.148 billion yuan. Among them, 8 of those projects involving foreign investment reaching 1.37 billion U.S. dollars.
Since its launch in 2006, Expo Central China has played an important role in promoting the coordinated development of the regional economy and expanding the region's opening-up.
(Edited by Tian Shenyoujia with Xinhua Silk Road, tianshenyoga0524@163.com)
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