Expo showcasing Lankan tea, jewels opens in China

Lanka attends expo for first time this year:

Twenty-five Government officials and 120 business representatives from the Russian Federation will attend the trade exhibition which displays Sri Lanka’s native products including black tea and jewels and seek trade opportunities.

The fourth Jilin Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo opened yesterday in Changchun, China to bridge buyers and suppliers.

“We must do our best to make this year’s event the best ever in service to enhance cooperation and communications between countries and regions,” Chinese Provincial Party Secretary Wang Min said.

The Expo continues to grow after its successful first session three years ago. The number of contracts signed increased from 132 in 2005 to 169 last year, with the aggregate value growing from 36.79 billion yuan to 70 billion yuan.

It is now ranked as a national A-level exposition and among China’s 10-most influential Government expos.

The number of exhibition booths have increased to 2,000 this year, with 708 for overseas exhibitors and 1,292 for domestic participants.

“I believe there will be more extensive cooperation between China and Sri Lanka at the fair,” said a commercial counsellor of Sri Lankan Embassy in China. The Sri Lanka delegation attends the expo for the first time this year.

The show now underway has attracted more than 60 of the world’s top 500 companies, including Wal-Mart, Johnson Controls and General Motors from the United States, SK and Doosan from South Korea, Japan’s Toyota and Sumitomo Corp and Germany’s Siemens and ZF.

Other participants include 86 overseas trade associations and 71 purchasing agents.

Source: China Daily