The 100,000m2 Hainan Expo 2023 features more than 2,800 exhibitors from 61 countries and territories worldwide. It is one of the four major national-level fairs held at the earliest right after the Chinese government announced the successful control of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien |
Delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the expo on April 10, Nguyen Hong Dien stressed the two nations’ comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership is thriving, bringing about practical benefits to both sides. The bilateral economic and trade cooperation, in particular, has grown deeper and wider and achieved many important and positive results despite the effects of the pandemic, he noted.
China has been Vietnam’s biggest trade partner for years, while Vietnam is now China’s biggest trade partner in ASEAN and 6th in the world. The commercial scale between the countries currently accounts for about a quarter of Vietnam's foreign trade turnover.
Hainan is very close to Vietnam and being built by the Chinese government as ‘the world's largest free trade port.’ According to the plan, Southern Chinese province will start island-wide independent customs operations in 2025.
With such important policies, Hainan in the near future will play a very important role in trade relations between ASEAN and China in general and between Vietnam and China in particular, Nguyen Hong Dien stressed.
He said the expo is considered an effort by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Hainan authorities to support the business community to overcome difficulties, restore, and develop, promising to contribute to maintaining and strengthening economic and trade cooperation among nations.
Also at the opening ceremony, the Vietnamese minister met with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao to discuss the creation of favorable conditions to promote two-way trade according to the common perception reached during an April 4 phone call between the Prime Ministers of the two countries.
Nguyen Hong Dien proposed Wang support his ministry in establishing trade promotion offices in Hainan and Chengdu to facilitate activities of business communities involved. He also invited the Chinese minister to soon pay a working visit to Vietnam.
Agreeing with Nguyen Hong Dien’s proposal and invitation, Wang stressed the two ministries need to closely coordinate and promote the nations’ two-way trade.
Also on April 10, Nguyen Hong Dien attended a ceremony to open the Vietnamese stall at the fair, which is introducing farm produce, processing and consumer goods from 30 Vietnamese firms. Ben Tre coconut products, Minh Long ceramics, and Trung Nguyen coffee are among those attracting significant visitors’ attention.
Source: VNA