Progress on a New Front

By Tao Xing

April 27 was the first day the Shanghai Cooperation Organization （SCO） International Investment and Trade Expo in Qingdao， Shandong Province， opened its doors to individual visitors. Hours later， several vendors in the Belarusian national pavilion had nearly sold out their products. “It surprised us，” a Belarusian staff told Beijing Review. “We have to retain some on exhibit for purchasers in case they are interested in and want to pursue further business cooperation.” Products presented inside the pavilion included beer， birch juice， milk， chocolates and candies， and meat.

The Afghanistan pavilion seemed sufficiently prepared as they provided visitors with a consistent stream of jewelry and saffron products.

Ren Jiayu， a business woman from Tianjin， made her way around all national pavilions to discover new business opportunities. “I am interested in Belarusian birch juice， Azerbaijani pomegranate wine and Indian basmati rice. China has an enormous population， which creates a huge market for high-quality agricultural products，” Ren told Beijing Review.

The three-day expo， which opened on April 26， attracted exhibitors from more than 30 countries and regions， with more than 1，400 companies participating on site and online. Some 300 professional purchasers made deals amounting to 300 million yuan （$46.4 million） and signed letters of intent worth close to 2 billion yuan （$310 million）. Furthermore， on-site consumption of the over 100，000 visitors exceeded 10 million yuan （$1.54 million）.

During the opening ceremony， the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area in Qingdao and partners from 17 countries signed memorandums of understanding on 20 major projects. These projects， with a combined investment of 66.8 billion yuan （$10.3 billion）， cover trade and logistics， new energy， high-end manufacturing， culture and tourism， and biomedicine.

On the sidelines of the expo， Qingdao hosted several other economic and trade meetings and dialogues.

During an investment promotion event on April 27， diplomats， leaders from business associations and exhibitors of the participating countries had one-on-one negotiations with representatives of more than 300 companies from 20 countries. The firms came from a wide range of sectors including agriculture， food and beverage， textile and clothing， handicraft， home building materials， smart home appliances， and tourism. They were recommended by the organizers in line with the requirements of the exhibitors.