Expo brings China, NE Asian countries together

The 12th China-Northeast Asia Expo is scheduled to be held from Aug 23 to 27 at the Changchun International Conference and Exhibition Center in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin province, said Assistant Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang at a news conference in Beijing on Monday.

The expo is co-sponsored by China's Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the People's Government of Jilin.

The first Northeast Asia Expo was held in September 2005. It was intended to expand regional cooperation and accelerate rejuvenation of the nation's old industrial base in Northeast China.

The expo, a cross-border platform for business cooperation among Northeast Asian countries, will significantly increase interconnectivity.

In 2018, the trade volume between China and the five countries in Northeast Asia — Russia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea — totaled $758.57 billion, accounting for nearly 25 percent of China's foreign trade, Li said citing ministry statistics.

"All preparations are now in the final stages. Design and construction of the exhibition spaces are underway," said Zhu Tianshu, vice governor of the province. "As the host of the expo, the province sees great opportunities for development amid the country's strategy of revitalizing Northeast China, and will shoulder great responsibility to hold a professional and efficient exhibition."

The expo, with a total area of 70,000 square meters, will set up six pavilions with themes ranging from Northeast China revitalization and imported merchandise to healthcare products and services.

A 5G-themed pavilion will make its debut at the expo, showing cutting-edge technologies like cloud computing and artificial intelligence, as well as the latest achievements and applications in the era of 5G.

Industry leaders from home and abroad at the pavilion include Huawei, ZTE, FAW and Nokia. They will display information and communications technologies, intelligent transport and system solutions.

The 10th High-level Forum on Northeast Asian Cooperation and the first China-Japan-ROK Entrepreneur Summit will also be held during the five-day event.