Shanghai, 10 Nov (Xinhua) -- "China Feels Warmer in Shared Development" -- The five-year "Expo" journey of the least developed countries
Xinhua News Agency reporters Chen Yao, Lou Chen, Xu Xiaoqing, and Bu Duomen
East Timorese black pepper, Lao tea, Central African Republic wood carving, Ethiopian coffee, these local products of the least developed countries and developed countries, humanoid robots, digital assembly lines and other intelligent products, appeared at the 5th China International Import Expo, aroused the strong interest of many buyers, consultation, negotiators endless.
Ethiopian coffee taken at the Food and Agricultural Products Exhibition Area of the 5th CIIE on November 7. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
Bai Lei, executive director of the National Pavilion of Timor-Leste, has organized the exhibition of products from the country for many years, witnessing the East Timorese coffee from unknown to becoming an "Internet celebrity" in China. She said that the Expo has driven trade cooperation and cultural exchanges between the two countries to become closer and closer, and "in the process of sharing China's development opportunities, we feel a warmer China."
CIIE is the world's first import-themed national-level exhibition, personally planned, proposed, deployed and personally promoted by President Xi Jinping, aiming to expand opening up and make China's large market a great opportunity for the world. Since its first event in 2018, each edition has attracted more than 100 national, regional and international organizations, and the cumulative intended turnover of the first four editions has exceeded US$270 billion. A total of 145 countries, regions and international organizations participated in this year's Expo, and 284 of the world's top 500 and industry leading enterprises reached 284, with a return rate of nearly 90%. CIIE has become a window for China to build a new development pattern, a platform to promote high-level opening-up, and an international public good shared by the world.
In order to allow more countries to share the dividends of China's development, the organizers of the Expo have widely invited least developed countries to participate in the exhibition since the first session, and provided each least developed country with two standard booths free of charge. In 2019, the organizer set aside a venue in the country (region) center of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone for countries in need to open national pavilions to display their commodities and investment projects all year round. This year, CIIE also joined hands with many multinational institutions and industry associations to help less developed countries organize groups to participate in the exhibition. Since 2018, enterprises from more than 30 countries in more than 40 least developed countries around the world have come to the Expo every year to seek business opportunities.
For LDCs, the road to Expo is full of opportunities and surprises. The handmade carpet brought by Ali Faiz, founder of Billalo Trading Co., Ltd., which has participated in the exhibition for three consecutive times, has always been a hot commodity at the Expo. His stand was not dazzlingly ornamented, and the carpet on the walls was a silent advertisement. He said: "Selling a large handmade wool carpet can guarantee the life of an ordinary family for nearly a year. The Chinese market has given hope to many Afghans. ”
Ethiopian coffee dealer Wang Wenhan participated in the exhibition for the first time, he was busy introducing products, while freshly ground coffee for merchants to taste, received more than 30 guests in the morning, "The Expo is a platform with international credibility, Ethiopia is the hometown of coffee, we are confident that through the Expo more Ethiopians can benefit from the Chinese market." ”
Timor-Leste's gains at the Expo go far beyond economic and trade cooperation. In 2018, when this small country with an area of only 14,800 square kilometers and a population of about 1.3 million was invited to participate in the Expo for the first time, it was "insufficient" about the competitiveness of its own products, did not organize enterprises to participate in exhibitions, and only made a national image display. At the second CIIE in 2019, the country tentatively displayed a handful of specialties such as cat poop coffee, wild honey, red wine and handicrafts.
Workers bag dried coffee beans in the drying yard of a coffee factory in Ermera, Timor-Leste, June 6, 2022. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Qin
The exhibits became an instant hit. Timor-Leste specialty coffee is favored by young Chinese consumers, and won $5 million in orders at the third CIIE in 2020. At the fourth CIIE, with the help of a robot barista "platform" provided by a Chinese company for free, Timor-Leste coffee became famous again.
According to data from Timor-Leste's National Bureau of Statistics, in 2021, the country exported 348 tons of coffee beans to China, an increase of 1.4 times year-on-year.
"Timorese products are green and pollution-free, in line with Chinese consumers' pursuit of healthy life." "It gives us a lot of confidence. ”
Before the opening of this Expo, the organizer took the initiative to coordinate relevant institutions to help Timorese products build a new and larger booth for free, the total area of the booth doubled compared with last year, reaching 36 square meters, East Timor turmeric powder, black pepper, natural sea salt and other organic health foods debuted at the Expo for the first time this year.
Li Manxiong, a local businessman who brought Timorese coffee to the Chinese market, launched more than a dozen products processed from East Timorese coffee beans at the exhibition. His booth was crowded, "hotter than ever, and many of them were repeat customers." He said: "The Expo has enhanced the popularity of Timor-Leste, and I hope to continue to use this platform to let more Timor-Leste products go to the world and benefit the people of Timor-Leste." ”
Ermera is one of the main coffee-producing regions in Timor-Leste. In recent years, local coffee beans have been screened, processed and exported to China, and many coffee farmers have secured their income, buying motorcycles and cars.
While coffee is marketed in China, Timor-Leste continues to benefit from the spillover effect of the Expo. In December 2019, under the joint promotion of the two governments, the National Pavilion of Timor-Leste settled in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and became an all-weather display platform for the country. In September of the following year, the East Timor Coffee Industry Center was unveiled at the National Pavilion, with the help of Chinese talents and technology, constantly promoting the quality and upgrading of Timor-Leste's coffee industry.
Afghan big pine nut products photographed at the 5th CIIE on November 5. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
During this year's CIIE, under the coordination of the organizers, more powerful Chinese enterprises and international institutions extended a helping hand to the less developed countries participating in the Expo. Enterprises from Nepal, Madagascar, Mozambique and other countries participated in the exhibition through the United Nations International Trade Center, while the Central African Republic, Niger, Angola, Somalia and other countries participated in the exhibition with the help of European and American chambers of commerce and industry, and launched special products such as weaving, wood carving, stone handicrafts and so on.
Yan, secretary general of the European and American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that through the large platform of the Expo, enterprises in these LDCs began to contact the Chinese market and formed a long-term mechanism to promote the strengthening of exchanges between the two sides at all levels such as non-governmental and commercial trade to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.