On July 9th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to introduce the 8th China South Asia Expo and the relevant situation of China South Asia economic and trade cooperation. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce introduced at the meeting that the 8th South China Expo will be held in Kunming, Yunnan from July 23rd to 28th. Since the first South China Expo was held in 2013, China has worked with South Asian countries to continuously deepen practical cooperation in various fields, maintain a good development momentum in economic and trade exchanges, and benefit the people of both sides. When it comes to promoting mutually beneficial and win-win trade cooperation between China and South Asia, Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei mentioned three aspects on the 9th - promoting mutual benefit and win-win trade cooperation. In 2023, the trade volume between China and South Asian countries reached nearly 200 billion US dollars, doubling from 2013. China's position as the largest trading partner of countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh continues to consolidate. More and more South Asian goods such as rice from Pakistan, black tea from Sri Lanka, seafood from Maldives, and pine nuts from Afghanistan are entering the Chinese market, which is deeply loved by Chinese consumers. Facility connectivity enhances people's well-being. A large number of infrastructure projects that benefit the people have been implemented in South Asia, bringing tangible convenience and benefits to the local people. The construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor is steadily advancing, and a number of infrastructure projects such as the upgrading of the Karakoram Highway, the Lahore Rail Transit Orange Line, and the Karachi Peshawar Expressway (Sukkur Multan section) have been successfully completed, creating favorable conditions for local employment and economic development. The successfully opened Kanapuri River Tunnel in Bangladesh and the newly built China Malaysia Friendship Bridge have made important contributions to the local economy and social development while facilitating local residents' travel. Pragmatic cooperation continues traditional friendship. In recent years, both sides have actively engaged in international medical cooperation. China has continued to promote livelihood assistance and infrastructure construction in South Asia, helping countries cultivate talents in related fields, helping South Asian countries improve their economic and hematopoietic capabilities, and enhancing people's sense of gain and happiness. The South China International Fair has facilitated the landing of over 3000 projects. It is an important platform for China and South Asian countries to carry out economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges. Li Fei stated that since the first edition, the South China Expo has served more than 18000 domestic and foreign enterprises to participate, attracting more than 4 million visitors. The cumulative foreign trade transaction volume has exceeded 100 billion US dollars, facilitating the signing and landing of more than 3000 projects, achieving the transformation of "exhibits into commodities" and "buyers into investors". The 8th South China Expo, with the theme of "unity, cooperation, and common development", is one of the most important economic and trade exchanges between China and South Asian countries this year. Wang Liping, Director of the Asia Department of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced that this year's South China Expo will focus on the "three further steps", continuously expand the "comprehensive exhibition, professional exhibition" model, further improve the quality and efficiency of the exhibition, and better serve China's economic and trade exchanges and cooperation with South Asia. One is to further optimize the exhibition hall settings and better present the displayed content. Highlighting the concept of professional exhibition organization, nearly 60% of the 15 exhibition halls are dedicated to professional exhibitions, including the Building Science and Technology Museum, Manufacturing Industry Museum, Green Energy Museum, Modern Agriculture and Geographical Indication Product Museum, etc., to facilitate cooperation channels throughout the entire industry chain. Set up domestic cooperation pavilions to showcase new achievements in regional cooperation. The second is to further focus on economic and trade cooperation and better serve exhibitors and merchants. Improve investment promotion and exhibition information services, establish and improve market-oriented investment promotion, admission, and evaluation mechanisms, and enhance the level of customs clearance and transportation convenience for exhibits. Optimize digital services such as merchant exhibitions, trade matching, and online transactions. For the first time, a comprehensive foreign trade service area has been established, providing one-stop third-party professional foreign trade comprehensive services throughout the entire process of customs declaration, inspection, insurance, finance, logistics, warehousing, etc. The third is to further expand cooperation areas and better build cooperation platforms. Focusing on the theme of trade, investment, production capacity cooperation, cultural exchange, etc., a number of supporting activities were held, including the 8th "the Belt and Road" Youth Maker Camp, 2024 (Kunming) United Nations Green Low Carbon Products Procurement Exchange, South Asia Commodity (Tea) Festival, etc., to continuously expand the cooperation fields between China and South Asian countries. How to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between China and South Asian countries by unleashing the potential of trade and investment cooperation? Li Fei stated that he will adhere to the guiding principles of consultation, co construction and sharing, openness, green and clean governance, and high standard benefits for people's livelihoods, with a focus on the following four aspects. In terms of improving cooperation mechanisms, we will use the bilateral economic and trade joint committees as the main channel to strengthen the coordination of development strategies and economic and trade policies, and gather more cooperation consensus. Continuously improving mechanisms such as trade facilitation and investment cooperation working groups, enhancing the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, improving arrangements for free trade agreements with South Asian countries, and further unleashing the potential for trade and investment cooperation. In terms of deepening industrial cooperation, we will strengthen the exchange of industrial policies and the effective integration of industrial resources, and jointly build a safe, stable, smooth, efficient, open, inclusive, and mutually beneficial regional industrial and supply chain system. Strengthen cooperation in the fields of digital economy, green economy, etc., improve the level of connectivity, break down trade and investment barriers and unreasonable restrictions, and create a fair, transparent, and non discriminatory business environment. In promoting open cooperation, we will strengthen cooperation with South Asian countries under multilateral frameworks such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS Cooperation Mechanism, promote open regional economic development, jointly uphold international economic and trade rules, and work together to implement global development initiatives. In terms of supporting local cooperation, we encourage and support Yunnan and other regions to better play a leading role in radiation, continue to facilitate trade and investment channels through exhibitions, e-commerce and other platforms, deepen economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges with South Asian countries, and promote the integrated development of trade and investment. (Lai Xin She)