Chongqing- Guest of honor countries, including Colombia, will showcase their specialty products, including coffee, fine wines, dark chocolate, jam, sacha inchi oil and etc. through exhibition displays at the 3rd Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT). 

"Specifically, sacha inchi oil contains a lot of quantity of Omega and proteins that are very important for the health," said Natalia Tobón, Commercial Counsellor Colombian Embassy in China. "We have brought this special product and will present it to the Chinese consumers here in Chongqing."

As the third-most populous country in Latin America, Colombia's population is concentrated in the Andean highlands and along the Caribbean coast. China and Colombia established diplomatic ties 41 years ago, where people-to-people exchanges between the two countries are flourishing.

"Due to the geological advantage, we would like to position Colombia as a major hub for Chinese companies in Latin America," said Tobón. "It is a logical decision for Chinese companies to establish in Colombia, and then get access to the Latin American region, including Brazil and Mexico from our country."

Huge potential for further cooperation 

China is the second-largest trading partner of Colombia, and Chinese enterprises have been actively engaged in Colombia's construction in all fields. Tobón emphasized that Chongqing has a high-tech industry, with its particular focus on the automotive industry.

"We see that there's a huge potential of cooperation in the automotive industry together with Chongqing and Colombia," said Tobón. She continued, Columbia has a big hub for artificial Intelligence and manufacturing products, where it has the capability to share research and academic resources with Chongqing enterprises.

"We aim to further up the cooperation and exchange of technology, knowledge and education between Chongqing and Colombia," said Tobón. "Not only fintech, but also artificial intelligence, internet of things, and many other sectors that we know that we can develop, because of the human talent that Colombia possesses."

In addition to cooperated areas in technology and education, Tobón raised potential opportunities in the infrastructure sector as well. "One of our major obstacles in terms of connection and logistics in Colombia are mountains in some way, I believe that Chongqing has surpassed this obstacle in a very great way," said Tobón. 

Tobón remembered her first time visited Chongqing, where she was surprised that a metro ran through a 19-storey residential apartment building, and then continued up throughout the mountains.

"I believe that we have a lot to learn and exchange with Chongqing infrastructure companies, who have helped in building this type of railway in the city," said Tobón. "This allows us to understand how we can build up our future cities in Colombia."

Virtual China Brand Show

For the upcoming China Brand Show for Colombia scheduled for May 25, Chongqing has set up a Chongqing Brand Showcase Center to display products from Chongqing brands.

Based in Medellín, the second-largest city in Colombia, the Center will provide products and services for purchasers and consumers in the country all year round.

Looking forward, the Showcase Center is expected to emerge as one of Chongqing’s important public service platforms for international sales.

(Li Fangwang, and Du Min, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)