The 8th Western China International Fair was held in Chengdu from May 22 to 28. For the first time, WCIF was co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, Western Development Office of the State Council, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, the people’s governments of Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Tibet, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (ie 7 13 hosts model). 

 

Comrade Wu Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, sent a congratulatory video. Comrade Zeng Peiyan, Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPC and Vice Premier of the State Council, attended the fair to guide and gave an important speech on the development of China's western region. Huang Mengfu, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC, Ho Hau-wah, Chief Executive of Macau SAR, and Song Jian, former Vice Chairman of the CPPCC attended the fair. 21 domestic provincial leaders led delegations to attend the fair. Somsavat Lengsavad, Deputy Prime Minister of Laos, Deuba, Former Prime Minister of Nepal, and more than 20 foreign ministerial-level dignitaries attended the fair. The fair invited more than 40,000 domestic and foreign merchants, 37 government delegations from provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions) and sub-provincial cities, and 48 economic and trade delegations to participate. The actual number of participants and visitors reached 350,000.

 

The fair set up two comprehensive pavilions for national and regional cooperation and seven professional pavilions, covering fields including industrial manufacturing, high-tech, tourism and culture, characteristic agriculture, energy and chemical engineering, etc. The exhibition area reached 91,300 square meters, with space-unit booth accounting for 82%, making it the largest exhibition in Western China. More than 300 companies from 24 countries and regions participated in the exhibition, with a total of 4,665 domestic and foreign exhibitors, and the exhibits exceeded 45,000 pieces (sets). More than 180 domestic top 500 companies, 200 national-level famous companies, 100 domestic industry-leading companies, and 500 provincial-level famous companies participated in the exhibition. The UK, Brazil, Czech Republic and Italy set up exhibitions at the WCIF for the first time. 

 

The fair held 51 events of various forms including trade fairs, promotion meetings, matchmaking meetings, economic and trade weeks, national days and cultural and sports exchanges, attracting more than 10,000 merchants from 60 countries and regions. “Western Development Forum”, “International Forum on the Development of China's Famous Brand Strategy”, “China-Southeast Asian Entrepreneurs Conference”, “China Intellectual Property Forum”, “The 11th China-Japan Friendship Conference”, “South Pacific Island Countries Investment and Trade Promotion Meeting”, “China’s East and West Private Economic Cooperation Fair”, and “China Edible Mushroom Development Forum” were strongly involved by the state sponsoring ministries and commissions, which enhanced the level of the fair. All parties in the western region held three special events in hydropower, mining and tourism resources to showcase the advantageous industries in the western region, worked together to build a tourism brand in the western region, and jointly signed the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Tourism in Western China. At the same time, some provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities also held their own special events. Foreign institutions organized 6 events, namely “Germany Day”, “India Day”, “Sri Lanka Economic and Trade Day”, “Bangladesh Day”, “Pakistan Day” and “ROK Economic and Trade Week”. In addition, more than 10 countries held various business opportunities promotion conferences, which have built a good platform for Chinese and foreign companies to strengthen cooperation and exchanges.

 

During the fair, a total of 542 formal contracts for projects were signed, and funds from the eastern and central China and foreign (overseas) capital of 55.729 billion yuan were introduced; 157 investment agreements with an amount equivalent to 24.34 billion yuan were signed; 215 official trade contracts, with the total contract value equivalent to 18.78 billion yuan were signed, and the total contract value of trade contracts of eastern and central China and foreign (overseas) was 17.36 billion yuan; a total of 275 trade agreements were signed, with the total amount of 13.26 billion yuan, and the trade funds from eastern and central China and foreign (overseas) countries were 9.56 billion yuan.