The Silk Road Expo serves as a new platform for opening up on all fronts to offer new opportunities for development

Ever-extending depth and coverage on opening-up

Besides the pavilion for guest of honor country, the United Kingdom also took part in the 3rd Silk Road Expo through many other activities in the fields of economics and trade, culture and people, education, science and technology, including the UK-China Higher Education Roundtable Conference, the UK-China Regional Economy and Investment Forum, the UK-China Belt and Road Infrastructure Roundtable Forum, the China (Shaanxi)-UK Business Cooperation Seminar, the Seminar on UK-China Cultural Heritage Conservation and Restoration, and the Xi’an-Edinburgh Sister City Interaction. “The UK hopes to establish a cooperative relationship with enterprises in Shaanxi and other parts of China through these activities, so as to contribute to the construction of the ‘Belt and Road’”, said Pan Dengyu from the British Embassy in Beijing.

Since the 19th Investment & Trade Forum for Cooperation between East & West China and the Silk Road International Expo, companies from guest countries of honor, including Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Georgia, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Serbia have all entered the Chinese market with through the Silk Road Expo. This year, as the two guest countries of honor, the UK and Malaysia are bound to add brilliance to the present splendor for the Silk Road Expo.

Rona Fairhead, the head of the UK Delegation and Minister of State at the Department for International Trade said to the media: “It is a great honor for the United Kingdom to be a guest of honor country of the Silk Road Expo this year.” She also expressed that the UK wanted to have extensive cooperation with Shaanxi in manufacturing, biomedical industry and intellectual property.

With the expanding of openness both in depth and coverage and the increasing number of enterprises and government officials from different countries, the Silk Road Expo is marching towards its goal of being a world-famous international exposition. In the meantime, it is becoming a strong magnet and playing an ever more important role in the opening-up of foreign investment attraction in both Shaanxi and on the global economic stage.

On May 11th, at the Guizhou Pavilion, four girls of the Miao ethnic group were seen demonstrating the wax-dyed garments to the audience. On the same day, the Opening Ceremony of Third Silk Road International Exposition and the Investment and Trade Forum for Cooperation between East and West China was held in Xi’an. (Photo by Ju Yuexian)

Cutting-edge products and science and technological achievements made their spectacular debuts

In the No.3 Industry Pavilion at the Xi’an Qujiang International Convention & Exhibition Center, a huge “space capsule” caught many people’s eyes. It was the Space Floatation Simulation Tranquil Sleep Device by the Tongchuan Yaowang Incubation Park for Health Industry. The reporter also noticed that the Silk Road Expo this year highlighted new technologies and products in aerospace & aviation, intelligent manufacturing, new materials, energy conservation, environment protection and health industries.

Different from the province-based pavilions before, the Silk Road Expo this year no longer set the exhibition areas according to countries, provinces or cities, but by product and industry categories. These specialty exhibitions that are cross-country and cross-region meet the market demand and present the audience a new look.

Li Jianyi, the Vice Director and Secretary of the Executive Committee of the 3rd Silk Road Expo and Director of the Convention and Exhibition Center of Shaanxi Province said: “This means the Silk Road Expo is transitioning towards a more internationalized, professional and recognized event that aims at catching up with the trend of other international expositions, further promoting the economic and trade cooperation and exchanges between enterprises from different countries, provinces, and cities, and turning opportunities for China to those for the world.”

It has been five years since the Belt and Road Initiative was put forward. During this period, the Silk Road Expo not only serves as a platform to promote the coordinated development of east, central and west China, but also shouldered the mission to advance the cooperation and exchanges among countries along the Belt and Road and even across the world. To China, the Silk Road Expo is a platform that promotes innovation, coordination and green, open and shared development; to the world, it is an important bridge for foreign enterprises to enter the Chinese market, a platform for investment, trade and cooperation for countries and regions along the route, and a platform for expositions of the latest science and technological products and achievements.

The regional cooperation is welcoming new opportunities of development

On May 9th, China (Shaanxi) - Korea Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference was held in Xianyang, Shaanxi. On the same day, 6 Chinese and Korean enterprises including Dashan Power Battery Technology (Xianyang) Co., Ltd. signed agreements to establish itself in Zhongchuangyue·Silk Road Industrial Park in the Area A of the Shaanxi-Korea Industrial Park.

Having been held multiple times on the Silk Road Expo, the China (Shaanxi) - Korea Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference has witnessed a closer cooperation relationship between Shaanxi and Korea, and has become an iconic platform for improving the economic exchanges and cooperation between Shaanxi and Korea. The activity is even larger in scale this year. Over 120 excellent small-and-medium enterprises from Korea brought their commodities including daily necessities, garments, cosmetics, food and high-tech products, hoping to establish cooperative relationships with Shaanxi enterprises and increase their sales volume.

Lin Longfu, the General Manager of the Korea company, Dashan Power Battery Technology (Xianyang) Co., Ltd. said: “The park is near Xi’an Xianyang International Airport and Samsung (China) Semiconductor Co., Ltd., which means there is a smooth flow of goods.” He hoped that more Korean enterprises could set foot in the industrial park to develop in Shaanxi together. It was learnt that with the successful operation of the Shaanxi-Korea Industrial Park, there have been 14 Korean invested enterprises operating in Xianyang with the total volume of Korean trade reaching USD180 million.

Given the ever closer economic cooperation between Shaanxi and Korea, the Gyeonggi-do Economic Science Promotion Agency from Korea has established a Xi’an office for the Western Commerce Center in the industrial park, in the hope of building a bridge for the trade exchanges and cooperation between enterprises from Korean and west China, so as to expand markets and achieve win-win cooperation.

With increasing attraction and influence, the Silk Road Expo has turned from a national brand exposition to an eye-catching international pageantry along the Belt and Road. It helps Shaanxi to accelerate its process to form a new pattern of all-round two-way opening up with links running eastward and westward over land and sea, bringing new opportunities for Shaanxi and countries around the world.