The 20th Western China International Fair (hereinafter referred to as the West Expo) opened on the 25th in Chengdu, Sichuan. The conference is themed "Deepen Reform for More Momentum, Expand Opening for Development" and will last for 5 days, attracting more than 3,000 enterprises from 62 countries (regions) and 27 provinces (regions, cities) in China.
According to reports by China News Service, the West Expo focuses on expanding high-level opening to the outside world, deepening regional exchange and cooperation, and promoting the construction of a modern industrial system. For the first time, it sets dual guest-of-honor countries and provinces, namely Hungary, Laos and Zhejiang, Qinghai, with the UAE serving as a special cooperation partner, to deepen interconnectivity between Sichuan Province and Belt and Road participating countries and fraternal provinces.
Simultaneously, it sets up three major exhibition areas for Western opening and cooperation, new industrial momentum in the west, and a beautiful life in the west, comprising 15 themed pavilions, with an exhibition area reaching 200,000 square meters, focusing on displaying the latest technological achievements and special industries from various regions.
Main activities of the conference include welcome meetings, opening ceremonies, tours and exhibitions, the China West Investment Promotion Conference and Economic Cooperation Project Signing Ceremony, China Western International Procurement Conference, guest-of-honor country activities; focusing on investment promotion and trade cooperation, countries like the UAE, provinces (regions, cities) such as Shaanxi and Xinjiang in the western part, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and relevant cities (states) of Sichuan Province will hold 25 investment promotion activities.
The number of "Three Types of Fortune 500" enterprises participating in this West Expo is 114, accounting for 55.6%. Among them, 61 are from the Global Fortune 500, an increase of 74.3% compared to the last session.
According to another report by China News Service, the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Economic Cooperation stated that during the West Expo, various parties in western China and domestic and foreign investors signed a total of 416 investment cooperation projects, with an investment amount of 354.3 billion RMB (208 billion MYR).
Among the signed projects, Sichuan signed 352, with an investment amount of 316.9 billion RMB (186.042 billion MYR). Among them, there were 76 high-tech manufacturing projects, with an investment close to 100 billion RMB; 38 new and future industry projects in fields such as artificial intelligence, the metaverse, and commercial space travel, with an investment amount exceeding 30 billion RMB (17.612 billion MYR); in terms of undertaking industrial transfer, projects from eastern provinces and cities amounted to 216, nearly 80% of which were manufacturing projects; 99 projects were in key industrial chains such as aerospace, new energy vehicles, and power batteries, artificial intelligence, with an investment amount of 105.3 billion RMB (61.818 billion MYR).
One of the main activities of this West Expo, the 13th China Western Investment Promotion Conference and Economic Cooperation Project Signing Ceremony, was held in Chengdu on the 25th. The event was jointly organized by the governments of 12 provinces (regions, cities) in western China and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, attended by representatives from over 180 well-known enterprises and institutions. Among them, 35 representative projects were signed on-site.