The China-Eurasia Expo

By HU XIAODONG  

Then Vice Premier Li Keqiang attended the opening ceremony of the first China-Eurasia Expo in 2011.

THE China-Eurasia Expo offers a platform for leaders of China, Asian and European countries to conduct diplomatic exchanges; it also provides China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region with a key channel for international cooperation in trade, investment, culture, science and technology.

The Expo originates in the China Urumqi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair, which had held 19 sessions before being upgraded in 2011 from a local regional trade-focused event to a national expo. The purpose of this expansion was to explore China's western regions and accelerate growth in Xinjiang, and to promote multi-faceted cooperation between China and Asian and European countries.

The Expo is co-sponsored by the regional government of Xinjiang, Xinjiang Production Construction Corps and 26 ministries and commissions under the State Council including the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A total of 22 municipal and provincial governments and 22 international organizations also lend support for the event. On the star-studded list are the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This annual exposition has been successfully held for two years.

A foreign representative promotes investment opportunities in his country to Chinese visitors at the second China-Eurasia Expo.

The first China-Eurasia Expo took place from September 1 to 5 of 2011 in Urumqi, capital city of Xinjiang. Then Vice Premier Li Keqiang attended the opening ceremony with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, then Kyrgyzstani President Roza Otunbayeva, Azerbaijani Vice Premier Abid Sharifov, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Aset Isekeshev, and former Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy. Also present were 113 guests above the ministerial level from 32 countries, UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi, UNIDO Managing Director Dmitri Piskounov, SCO Secretary General Muratbek Imanaliev, and Deputy Secretary-General of the Commission of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan Tatyana Starchenko. Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, then chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Fernando Chui Sai On, chief executive of Macao Special Administrative Region, also attended the Expo, along with 84 domestic guests above the ministerial level from 30 mainland provinces and cities, seven Chinese ambassadors, and 15 commercial counselors.