Recently, the 8th China South Asia Expo (referred to as the "South Expo") was held in Kunming, Yunnan Province. This year's South China International Fair has 82 countries, regions, and international organizations participating, with over 2000 exhibiting companies, nearly half of which are overseas enterprises, covering all countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia. As one of the most important economic and trade exchange activities between China and South Asian countries this year, the South China International Fair presents the current situation of hot economic and trade exchanges between China and many South Asian countries, and has also become an important platform for enterprises from various countries to communicate and reach transactions. At the South Asia Pavilion of the South Asian Expo, visitors take photos of featured products in the Pakistan exhibition area. On the opening day of the South China International Fair, Iranian boy Ali introduced exhibits from Iran in fluent Chinese, attracting many visitors to stop and watch. Tasting Sri Lankan black tea at the South Asia Pavilion of the South China International Fair, selecting textiles in the Pakistan exhibition area of this year's South China International Fair, experiencing island customs in the Maldives exhibition area, and experiencing cultural and creative products with ethnic characteristics such as Chuxiong Yi embroidery in Yunnan and Naxi pictographic painting in Lijiang in the Cultural Tourism Sports Center... At this year's South China International Fair, various characteristic products attracted exhibitors from various countries to negotiate cooperation intentions. This year's South Asian International Fair will continue to use the theme of "unity, cooperation, and common development" to comprehensively showcase industries with great potential for economic and trade cooperation between China and South Asian countries, such as green energy, modern agriculture, medical and health care, and cultural tourism. Among the 15 exhibition halls, professional halls account for nearly 60%, with building science and technology halls, manufacturing halls, green energy halls, modern agriculture and geographical indication product halls, etc. In addition, this year's South Asian Expo has many new highlights: the South Asia Pavilion has increased from one to two, with more than 800 booths set up, and a dedicated national exhibition area for the theme country Pakistan; For the first time, a coffee industry museum has been established, inviting over 160 companies to participate and fully promoting the quality and upgrading of Yunnan's coffee industry; For the first time, the "VR to South Expo" digital service has been launched to optimize digital services such as customer participation, trade matching, and online transactions, further enhancing the "smart" content of the South Expo; For the first time, a comprehensive foreign trade service area has been established to provide one-stop services such as customs declaration and inspection for enterprises... The rich exhibition content, diverse exhibition activities, online and offline combined exhibition forms, and multiple supporting exhibition services have been well received by exhibitors. The South China International Fair is a great and important platform for communication and cooperation. In addition to our Chinese partners, the South Asian Expo also allows us to find economic, trade, and cultural partners from South Asian countries and other countries Mohammad Akma bin Abdul Wahab, Consul General of Malaysia in Kunming, said. According to statistics, the total amount of investment cooperation facilitated during this year's South China International Fair exceeded 10 billion yuan. As of July 27th, the cumulative amount of signed domestic and foreign trade contracts exceeded 8 billion yuan, and the cumulative online and offline sales exceeded 500 million yuan. According to the Vietnam News Agency, 61 Vietnamese companies and 3 provincial-level units participated in this year's South China International Fair, with a total of 124 booths. In the past, Vietnam's exports to China mainly consisted of wooden products and handicrafts. In recent years, the demand for Vietnamese agricultural products, processed foods, seafood, coffee, cashew nuts and other products has been increasing in the consumer market in southwestern China. These have become products with export advantages for Vietnam to Yunnan and even Southwest China. According to data from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the trade volume between China and South Asian countries is expected to reach nearly 200 billion US dollars in 2023, doubling that of the first South Asian Expo. China's position as the largest trading partner of countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh continues to consolidate. More and more South Asian products such as rice from Pakistan, black tea from Sri Lanka, seafood from Maldives, and pine nuts from Afghanistan are entering the Chinese market and are deeply loved by Chinese consumers. In recent years, the economic and trade cooperation between China and South Asia has shown the following significant characteristics: fast growth rate, large scale, and increasingly diverse trade categories Lin Minwang, Deputy Director of the South Asia Research Center at Fudan University, stated in an interview with our reporter that in the past decade, China has gradually become the largest trading partner of many South Asian countries. China mainly exports high-quality and affordable industrial products and intermediate goods to South Asian countries, while South Asian countries mainly export resource products such as agricultural products to China. The two sides have a high degree of economic complementarity. At this year's South Asian International Fair, China and South Asian countries intend to promote cooperation in the fields of digital economy and new energy as important development directions for future economic and trade cooperation between the two sides. In recent years, a large number of infrastructure projects that benefit the people have been implemented in South Asia, bringing tangible convenience and benefits to local residents. 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 Orange Line of Lahore Rail Transit, and the Karachi Peshawar Expressway (Sukkur Multan section) have been successfully completed, creating favorable conditions for local employment and economic development. The successful opening of the Karnaphuli River Tunnel in Bangladesh and the newly built China Malaysia Friendship Bridge have not only facilitated local residents' travel, but also made important contributions to the local economic and social development, becoming shining business cards for China's economic and trade cooperation with South Asian countries. Hu Zhiyong, a researcher of the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed in an interview with our reporter that the steady development of economic and trade cooperation between China and South Asian countries has multiple supporting factors: First, China has good political relations with most South Asian countries, and China's initiative to jointly build the "the Belt and Road" is supported by most South Asian countries. Under the framework of jointly building the "the Belt and Road", the two sides have launched a number of practical cooperation to promote bilateral economic and trade exchanges; Secondly, currently, the international economic and trade environment is changing, and some European and American countries are adopting trade protectionism policies, exacerbating the vulnerability of global supply chains and industrial chains. South Asian countries and China are geographically close and economically complementary, and their trade links are becoming increasingly close, which meets the development needs of both sides. During this year's South China International Fair, there is enormous room for development. The China South Asia Business Forum, China South Asia Cooperation Forum, and the 3rd RCEP (Yunnan) International Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum were also held, with multiple supporting activities focused on themes such as trade and investment, production capacity cooperation, and cultural exchange, exploring more possibilities for regional development. It is reported that the South China International Fair has been successfully held for 7 sessions, continuously playing the role of "three platforms" in deepening and expanding trade cooperation between China and South Asian countries, including policy exchange, commodity trading, and investment cooperation. It has served more than 18000 domestic and foreign enterprises to participate in the exhibition, attracted more than 4 million visitors, and achieved a cumulative foreign trade turnover of over 100 billion US dollars, facilitating the signing and implementation of more than 3000 projects. Currently, most South Asian countries are emerging economies with strong fragility and instability in their economic development. They need to cope with global economic fluctuations, the impact of developed countries' economic and trade policies, and the pressure of geopolitical changes. In recent years, the pragmatic cooperation between China and South Asian countries has effectively promoted the economic recovery of South Asian countries and enhanced the endogenous driving force for their economic development. With the continuous strengthening of political mutual trust, economic and trade development, and cultural exchanges, there is enormous room for cooperation between China and South Asian countries in areas such as infrastructure construction, manufacturing transformation and upgrading, education, and cultural exchanges Hu Zhiyong said. Vice Minister of Commerce of China, Li Fei, stated that in the next step, China will take the following measures to promote the economic and trade relations between China and South Asian countries to a new level: strengthening the coordination of development strategies and economic and trade policies, continuously improving mechanisms such as trade facilitation and investment cooperation working groups, and enhancing the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation; Strengthen cooperation in areas such as digital economy and green economy, enhance connectivity, eliminate trade and investment barriers and unreasonable restrictions, and create a fair, transparent, and non discriminatory business environment; 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, and jointly uphold international economic and trade rules. The economic ties between China and South Asian countries continue to strengthen, and economic and trade exchanges are becoming increasingly close. In the future, there is enormous potential for economic and trade cooperation between China and South Asian countries Lin Minwang believes that on the one hand, South Asian countries have a large population, great economic development space, and overall positive development trends, with a strong desire to develop their economy. China is a geographically close and economically large market for South Asian countries, and there is enormous growth potential for bilateral trade cooperation; On the other hand, there are certain similarities in the economic development process between China and South Asian countries, and many of the experiences and business models of Chinese enterprise development and industrial upgrading may be applicable in South Asian countries. With the gradual improvement of industrial and supply chains between China and South Asian countries, and the increasing degree of market integration between the two sides, the vitality of economic and trade cooperation between China and South Asia will be further released. (New Society)