At the concluding press conference for the 124th Canton Fair, Xu Bing, spokesperson and Deputy Secretary General of Canton Fair, Deputy Director General of China Foreign Trade Centre, introduced progress made in the “Belt & Road” Initiative at the Canton Fair. Xu said that as China’s largest trade promotion platform, Canton Fair has implemented the “Belt & Road” Initiative, advanced the “B&R” development, driven the trade and economic cooperation with countries along the route and promoted trade connectivity and win-win development between China and B&R countries. Noticeable participation of companies along the route. This session attracted 381 companies from B&R countries with 615 booths, accounting for 60% and 62% respectively, covering all 6 product zones in the International Pavilion. South Korea, Malaysia, Egypt, Turkey, Thailand, Pakistan and India participated in the form of national delegation. Leading enterprises of household appliances of Indonesia, Egypt and Turkey participated and regarded Canton Fair as the platform for global promotion. SANGTHAI SPORT BLAZE participated for the first time and reached an intention for making a deal with Saudi Arabian customer. Macau Wingfai Food opened new sales channel through Canton Fair and regarded Canton Fair as significant as “a door to the new world”. Large attendance of buyers from countries along the route. We’ve developed markets in the “Belt & Road” Initiative. The number of buyers from “Belt and Road” stood at 84578, up by 0.16% and accounting for 44.56% of the total. Ethiopian buyers said that “Belt & Road” Initiative brought new opportunities for economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa; agricultural machinery and equipment at the Canton Fair of high quality and low price could provide tangible assistance to local farmers. Turkish buyers said that Canton Fair is more than just making deals; it is also about learning new elements, new technology, new products and international market development. Transaction with B&R countries keeps increasing. The transaction with the “Belt and Road” countries totaled 9.63 billion dollars, a year-on-year increase of 2.7% and accounting for 32.3% of the total. Many exhibitors developed Belt &Road markets with new products that meet the demands. A Guangdong company has opened stores in Malaysia and Thailand to bring its products global and it is expected to open 25 overseas store by the end of 2018. Microwave ovens of Glanz took 80% of market share in India for the first half of this year; export volume to Ukraine and Hungary through Canton Fair has doubled. Chico air conditioner is a long term exhibitor of the Canton Fair, and the company has maintained a 10% or above market share in the “Belt & Road” markets. “Belt & Road” thematic activities are pragmatic and effective. In this session we’ve organized networking between exhibitors and government agencies, chambers of commerce and enterprises from B&R countries with the theme of “Fifth anniversary of Belt & Road”, promoted exchange and cooperation with countries along the route and driven the development of Canton Fair’s global cooperation network.
