Chongqing- The Fourth Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT) will be held at the Chongqing International Expo Center from July 21 to 24, 2022, to promote the implementation of major projects and better serve western China, the whole country, and the world. Serving as an important platform for international cooperation, the WCIFIT promotes multilateral economic and trade cooperation in west China and the world.

Improving the operational efficiency of the corridor

In 2021, the third WCIFIT took full advantage of the trade cooperation platform and investment promotion platform, holding more than 100 activities. These included investment promotion, economic and trade negotiation, investigation, and activity docking, during which 359 projects were signed with a total contract value of 357.82 billion yuan (about 53.17 billion U.S. dollars), covering more than 20 fields such as information technology, high-end equipment, and biotechnology.

According to Zhang Zhikui, Executive Committee Office Director of the third WCIFIT, guests from home and abroad believed that the signing of RCEP provides an essential opportunity to enhance the function of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC).

It would further expand the space for economic and trade cooperation between western China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), effectively increasing the trade and investment scale, improving the industrial chain, and stabilizing the supply chain.

Meanwhile, domestic and foreign guests also suggested deepening the digital construction of the ILSTC to promote the interaction and sharing of logistics, supply chain, trade and investment, and information to improve its operational efficiency. 

By promoting the seamless connection between the construction of ILSTC and China Railway Express to Europe, they would attract countries in Central Asia and Europe to jointly participate in the construction of ILSTC, expanding the coverage of the corridor and improving the quality of intermodal transport services.

In addition, guests from Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines suggested strengthening the industrial cooperation between the ASEAN and Chongqing with western China, jointly enhancing the implementation of import and export business and two-way investment projects in automobile and motorcycle, equipment manufacturing, electronic information, petrochemical, and other fields, building cross-border key industrial clusters with complementary advantages and collaborative linkage.

Promoting multilateral economic and trade cooperation

The second WCIFIT accepted more than 4,000 enterprises from 95 countries and regions and 70,000 guests from home and abroad.

Meanwhile, 132 major projects were successfully signed, with a total contract value of 337.53 billion yuan (approx. 50.18 billion U.S. Dollars), involving industries and fields including smart manufacturing, cloud computing, new materials, new energy vehicles (NEVs), biological pharmaceutical, high-end logistics, ecological protection, and etc.

István Jakab, the former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary, said that Hungary has close contact with Chongqing, witnessing 50 enterprises and over 100 entrepreneurs participating at the second WCIFIT. He hoped it could further deepen exchanges and cooperation with Chongqing in fields of technological innovation, automobile industry, logistics, tourism, and so on.

Former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema said that the purpose of the Belt and Road initiative is to promote the prosperity of all countries and the development of globalization. He hoped that all countries could cooperate actively with a common goal, sharing development experiences, fostering economic development, and benefiting people of all countries.

Besides, Jononov Sherali, Deputy Secretary-General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), said that the WCIFIT builds a good platform for multilateral economic and trade cooperation, which would positively attract investment from the SCO member states. It is hoped that the SCO member states can make good use of the WCIFIT platform to strengthen exchange and cooperation.

(Ge Rongchen, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)