Covering a total area of 2.57 million square kilometers and
having a population of 200 million, southwest China is rich in
natural resources and scenic spots. Bordering Vietnam, Laos,
Myanmar, Bhutan , Sikkim, Nepal and India, it is an important
gateway of China to Southeast Asia and South Asia.
The?11th China Kunming Export Commodities Fair will be held
in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan
Province, from August 26 to 30, according to the organizing
committee of the fair. Sun Xiaohong, director of the Bureau of
Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of Yunnan Province and Yu
Dingcheng, deputy director of the bureau recently briefed media on
this event and the well preparation that Yunnan has made to
guarantee its success.
The annual trade fair should have been held in June. But this
year’s fair had to be postponed to August due to the outbreak of
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) earlier this year
throughout China.
China Kunming Export Commodities Fair is jointly sponsored by
local governments of Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, Guangxi
Zhuang and Tibet autonomous regions, and Chongqing Municipality and
Chengdu city government. Initiated in 1993, the Kunming trade fair
has been playing a significant role in promoting economic
development in western China.
Every year in the past decade, over 5,000 guests from around 60
countries attended the fair. More than 2,000 domestic enterprises
from 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities
participated in the fair. Ranging from import and export, foreign
investment, international economic and technological cooperation to
border trade, previous fairs had had a record with total trade
volume reaching US$13.19 billion
With the participation of two new members this year -- Vietnam
Chamber of Commerce and Industry and ASEAN (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) Chamber of Commerce and Industry -- the
number of co-organizers of the fair has reached nine, including All-China Federation of
Industry and Commerce, China Council for
the Promotion of International Trade, Hong Kong Trade
Development Council, and The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in
Hong Kong and Macao, Thai-Chinese General Chamber of Commerce,
Sino-Malaysian Chamber of Commerce.
By July 28, 2003 Kunming Fair had arranged 1,525 exhibition
booths, of them, Yunnan, the hosting province, had got 1,013
booths, with other provinces and municipalities taking 270 and
overseas enterprises taking 242.
Apart from the six sponsors from five provinces and autonomous
regions, delegations from Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hainan, Gansu, Hebei
and Hunan provinces and Shenzhen, Xi’an, Wuhan, and Dalian cities
have also registered to participate in the fair. They have applied
114 exhibition booths. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Exhibition Hall has
confirmed 10 exhibition halls.
According to Director Yu Dingcheng, this year’s fair features
different exhibition places for varied interests and functions. For
example, there will be special exhibition halls for co-organizers
and delegations from various provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities, as well as for border trade, for business promotion
and investment opportunities, and even for Lancang-Mekong
Sub-regional Economic Cooperation. Commodities exhibition halls are
arranged separately for electromechanical equipment, tobacco,
information industry, biological medicines, chemical industry and
mining as well as agricultural products.?
Construction of China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone enables the trade
fair to cover businesses from all the ASEAN countries. What’s worth
noticing is that in the 2003 Kunming trade fair, the ASEAN Hall
will be the biggest highlight among the many. It is reported that
with the construction of China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone, Kunming has
become an international passageway linking China with ASEAN
countries due to its special geographic location. The trades
between Yunnan and the neighboring countries have been largely
increased. At present, the Yunnan provincial government is applying
to the central government for sponsoring the first China-ASEAN
Trade Fair in Kunming, which is due to be held in China in
2005.
According to Yu Dingcheng, all the ten ASEAN countries have
registered to participate in the fair. They have confirmed a total
of 232 exhibition booths. This year will be the first time for
Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia to come to the fair. Famous
businesses such as Chia Tai Group of Thailand, Sinar Mas Group of
Indonesia, Seagull Group of Malaysia, INTRACO of Singapore,
Thailand Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Vietnam Airlines and Silk
Air of Singapore will appear in the fair.
Various activities to be held
During the five-day fair, a promotion meeting on investment in
southwest China by Chinese businesses in ASEAN countries will also
be held. More than 100 Chinese entrepreneurs from ASEAN countries
including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia invited by the Overseas
Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and provincial Overseas
Chinese Affairs Office will attend the meeting.
In addition, seizing the opportunity that the “Early Harvest
Program” of the Framework Agreement on China-ASEAN Comprehensive
Economic Cooperation will be started in January 2004, and that
China and Thailand have signed agreement concerning elimination of
tariffs on 188 varieties of vegetable and fruit products, a meeting
introducing the “Early Harvest Program” will be held during this
year’s Kunming Fair. Officials from the Ministry of Commerce will
take part in the meeting and brief domestic enterprises on the
related information and help them win more opportunities in
advance.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Wang Qian, August 4, 2003)