An outbound international freight train is about to depart from a station in southwest China's Chongqing, June 16, 2022. The first outbound international freight train for test from China's Chongqing to South Asia pulled out of a station in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Thursday. The new route from Chongqing to Nepal's capital Kathmandu can save about 20 days on the way compared with traditional logistics routes.(Photo: Xinhua)

The sixth China-South Asia Exposition came to an end on Tuesday, with signed investment deals exceeding 400 billion yuan ($56.07 billion), China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Experts noted that the event demonstrated the resilience and potential of economic and trade cooperation between China and South Asian countries.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the investment projects focus on 12 key industrial lines in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, including green energy, modern agriculture, advanced manufacturing, new materials and biomedicine.

The 6th China-South Asia Expo was successfully held online and on-site from November 19 to 22 in Kunming, Yunnan. With the theme of "New Opportunities for New Development", this year's expo welcomed people from 80 countries, regions and international organizations, as well as 64 of the domestic and foreign 500 enterprises.

The third China-South Asia Cooperation Forum, the first China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development and Cooperation, and the first Belt and Road Supply Chain Summit and other activities were held during the four-day event.

The China-South Asia Expo is an important platform for multilateral economic and trade cooperation, and cultural exchanges between China and South Asian countries, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday.

Since the first expo took place in 2013, up to 89 countries, regions and international organizations have participated, and 2,770 domestic and foreign projects have been signed, with a cumulative investment exceeding 3.7 trillion yuan.

China and South Asian countries have been friendly neighbors and development partners, Zhao said. China's trade with South Asia reached $187.5 billion in 2021, which is $50 billion more than the pre-pandemic period.

Trade between India and China reached $103.6 billion in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 14.6 percent year-on-year.

According to Zhao, cooperation projects such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and the Colombo Port City and the Hambantota Harbor under China-Sri Lanka cooperation are steadily advancing. Cultural and personnel exchanges between the two parties have continued to expand, with Yunnan alone receiving nearly 2,000 international students from South Asian countries.

China is willing to cooperate with South Asian countries to build the Belt and Road Initiative with high quality, implement the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative, in a bid to jointly achieve development, Zhao noted.


Global Times