Covering a total area of 2.57 million square kilometers and having a population of 200 million, southwest China is rich in natural resources and scenic spots. Bordering Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Bhutan , Sikkim, Nepal and India, it is an important gateway of China to Southeast Asia and South Asia.

The 11th China Kunming Export Commodities Fair will be held in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province, from August 26 to 30, according to the organizing committee of the fair. Sun Xiaohong, director of the Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of Yunnan Province and Yu Dingcheng, deputy director of the bureau recently briefed media on this event and the well preparation that Yunnan has made to guarantee its success.

The annual trade fair should have been held in June. But this year’s fair had to be postponed to August due to the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) earlier this year throughout China.

China Kunming Export Commodities Fair is jointly sponsored by local governments of Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, Guangxi Zhuang and Tibet autonomous regions, and Chongqing Municipality and Chengdu city government. Initiated in 1993, the Kunming trade fair has been playing a significant role in promoting economic development in western China.

Every year in the past decade, over 5,000 guests from around 60 countries attended the fair. More than 2,000 domestic enterprises from 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities participated in the fair. Ranging from import and export, foreign investment, international economic and technological cooperation to border trade, previous fairs had had a record with total trade volume reaching US$13.19 billion

With the participation of two new members this year -- Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Chamber of Commerce and Industry -- the number of co-organizers of the fair has reached nine, including All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macao, Thai-Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Sino-Malaysian Chamber of Commerce.

By July 28, 2003 Kunming Fair had arranged 1,525 exhibition booths, of them, Yunnan, the hosting province, had got 1,013 booths, with other provinces and municipalities taking 270 and overseas enterprises taking 242.

Apart from the six sponsors from five provinces and autonomous regions, delegations from Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hainan, Gansu, Hebei and Hunan provinces and Shenzhen, Xi’an, Wuhan, and Dalian cities have also registered to participate in the fair. They have applied 114 exhibition booths. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Exhibition Hall has confirmed 10 exhibition halls.

According to Director Yu Dingcheng, this year’s fair features different exhibition places for varied interests and functions. For example, there will be special exhibition halls for co-organizers and delegations from various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, as well as for border trade, for business promotion and investment opportunities, and even for Lancang-Mekong Sub-regional Economic Cooperation. Commodities exhibition halls are arranged separately for electromechanical equipment, tobacco, information industry, biological medicines, chemical industry and mining as well as agricultural products. 

Construction of China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone enables the trade fair to cover businesses from all the ASEAN countries. What’s worth noticing is that in the 2003 Kunming trade fair, the ASEAN Hall will be the biggest highlight among the many. It is reported that with the construction of China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone, Kunming has become an international passageway linking China with ASEAN countries due to its special geographic location. The trades between Yunnan and the neighboring countries have been largely increased. At present, the Yunnan provincial government is applying to the central government for sponsoring the first China-ASEAN Trade Fair in Kunming, which is due to be held in China in 2005.

According to Yu Dingcheng, all the ten ASEAN countries have registered to participate in the fair. They have confirmed a total of 232 exhibition booths. This year will be the first time for Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia to come to the fair. Famous businesses such as Chia Tai Group of Thailand, Sinar Mas Group of Indonesia, Seagull Group of Malaysia, INTRACO of Singapore, Thailand Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Vietnam Airlines and Silk Air of Singapore will appear in the fair.

 Various activities to be held

During the five-day fair, a promotion meeting on investment in southwest China by Chinese businesses in ASEAN countries will also be held. More than 100 Chinese entrepreneurs from ASEAN countries including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia invited by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and provincial Overseas Chinese Affairs Office will attend the meeting.

In addition, seizing the opportunity that the “Early Harvest Program” of the Framework Agreement on China-ASEAN Comprehensive Economic Cooperation will be started in January 2004, and that China and Thailand have signed agreement concerning elimination of tariffs on 188 varieties of vegetable and fruit products, a meeting introducing the “Early Harvest Program” will be held during this year’s Kunming Fair. Officials from the Ministry of Commerce will take part in the meeting and brief domestic enterprises on the related information and help them win more opportunities in advance.

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Wang Qian, August 4, 2003)