The ninth China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, Yunnan province in southwest China, concluded on June 24 with over 150 business contracts worth more than 8.4 billion RMB signed. The expo received more than 500,000 visits, making it a landmark platform for deepening cooperation between China and South Asian countries.

According to official statistics released at a press conference on the last day, 31 investment cooperation projects were signed, totaling over 13.6 billion RMB — a year-on-year increase of 33 percent.

Guests from 73 countries, regions and international organizations attended the expo, and more than 2,500 enterprises took part in the exhibition, 942 of which were from overseas. This was a 20.9 percent increase over last time. Over 3,000 buyers from more than 30 countries and regions participated in the procurement, including from South Asian countries and members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

High-quality consumer goods such as carpets, furniture, cashmere products and black tea from Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka were very popular. More than 500 high-quality products from 66 domestic foreign trade enterprises were displayed in a newly established area.

For the first time, the forum set up a launch hall where over 40 enterprises debuted their new products. It covered AI, new materials, new energy vehicles and biomedicine, providing opportunities for both first-time and repeat customers.

The Tengchong Scientists Forum, which has been held three times in Tengchong in Yunnan, also made its debut at the expo. The forum has built platforms for academic exchanges, interaction among governments, industries and research institutes, and transfer of sci-tech achievements. Through it, sci-tech cooperation with South Asian and Southeast Asian countries has been established, facilitating 780 investment projects with a total value of 190 billion RMB.

The forum constitutes part of Yunnan's efforts to promote technology transfer and sci-tech cooperation with South Asian countries. The China-South Asia Technology Transfer Center, built by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the People's Government of Yunnan, has established cooperation mechanisms and platforms with all South Asian countries after 10 years of work. Branches have been built in six of these countries including India and Pakistan, meeting their sci-tech cooperation needs, Ma Minxiang, vice president of the Yunnan Academy of Science and Technology, said.

Achievements have been made in personnel training, project communication, commercialization of sci-tech achievements and industrial cooperation. Ma said the center has facilitated the launch of more than 80 projects in solar energy, agriculture and the digital economy.