Leaders visit trade pavilions

Import event will offer better commercial prospects, deals

President Xi Jinping joined foreign leaders who are in Shanghai for the China International Import Expo on a visit to pavilions of different countries shortly after he announced the event's opening on Monday.

Xi, along with foreign dignitaries, walked past pavilions including those of Hungary, Egypt, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Kenya and Russia, and learned of the countries' economic and trade achievements as well as their specialties and popular products.

Xi said he hopes various countries avail themselves of the expo to discover more business opportunities, enhance cooperation and improve their competitiveness.

Their exports of high-quality commodities to China will help enrich the Chinese market, meet the increasing and diversified demand of Chinese consumers, and ultimately promote mutual benefits and win-win outcomes, he said.

Xi and foreign leaders appreciated the picturesque natural beauty of Hungary, and experienced the ancient civilization and state-of-the-art development plans of Egypt through multimedia displays.

At the Czech pavilion, Czech President Milos Zeman invited Xi to drink beer made in the Central European country, and he played a tune on a piano made in his country.

Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc displayed agricultural products and tourism sites to Xi from their countries when leaders strolled past their pavilions.

A great variety of specialties such as flowers from Kenya, fruit from the Dominican Republic, and coffee from El Salvador attracted the leaders' attention.

They were also presented with exhibitions of Belt and Road-related cooperation achievements such as the China-Laos railway projects and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor at the Laotian and Pakistani national pavilions.

Accompanied by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Xi was briefed at the Russian pavilion on the joint achievements between the two nations in nuclear power, natural gas and aviation, as well as local government exchanges.

The leaders also stopped at the China pavilion, which features the philosophy of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, displays the achievements China has made in reform and opening-up over the past four decades, and showcases new development opportunities that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative presents to the world.

High-speed rail projects, the C919 passenger jet and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge were highlighted via video to show visiting leaders the breathtaking changes of China's engineering innovations.

The leaders said the expo demonstrates China's pursuit of opening-up and inclusiveness.