People visit the South Asia Pavilion during the 9th China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, June 19, 2025. (Photo: Xinhua)

The World Economic Forum's 16th Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2025, commonly known as the Summer Davos Forum, is scheduled to kick off in North China's Tianjin from Tuesday to Thursday - the latest of a series of large-scale and high-level international conferences and exhibitions that are being held in China lately.

A Chinese expert said on Sunday that these exhibitions showcase the vitality of the Chinese economy and the country's resolve to expand opening-up and share development opportunities with the rest of the world.

Under the theme "Entrepreneurship for a New Era," the Summer Davos will bring together more than 1,700 participants from more than 90 countries and regions, according to the organizer of the forum. 

The ongoing 9th China-South Asia Expo has drawn representatives from more than 70 countries, regions and international organizations, as well as more than 2,500 enterprises. The just-concluded 6th Qingdao Multinationals Summit held in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, attracted 465 multinationals, including many Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders, according to media reports.

"The active participation of a large number of multinationals and international representatives at these expos underscores the importance they attach to opportunities in China," Cao Heping, an economist at Peking University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Jack Wu, Penfolds' general manager for China, told the Global Times during the Qingdao Multinationals Summit that the theme of the summit - Multinationals and China: Connecting the world for win-win cooperation - is excellent and aligns perfectly with Treasury Wine Estates Ltd's strategy of investing in China while connecting with the global market.

"China serves as a crucial supply base in our multi-country of origin strategy. The importance of the Chinese market has now been elevated to an even greater strategic level across our entire company," Wu said.

China is now the world's second-largest consumer market, boasting a middle-income group of more than 400 million people, which means enormous investment and consumption potential. As the country's digital, intelligent and green consumption transformation accelerates, the market potential will be further unleashed, providing more opportunities for foreign enterprises, he said.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on June 16, China's retail sales in May grew by 6.4 percent year-on-year to 4.13 trillion yuan ($575.08 billion), which was reportedly the fastest pace since the beginning of 2024 and exceeded major forecasts.

"The global economy faces multiple challenges, with the US' sweeping tariffs seriously disrupting the stability of global industrial and supply chains. Against this backdrop, China's hosting of a series of international expos also provides cooperation platforms and boosts smooth trade exchanges across the world," Cao said.

During the 4th China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, which concluded on June 15 in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, 176 projects worth $11.39 billion were signed. The two figures were up 45.8 percent and 10.6 percent from the last session in 2023.

"These international expos across various fields meet domestic and foreign companies' needs for market expansion and cooperation. They are aligned with the general trend of global economic development, while further deepening global industrial cooperation and exchanges," Gao Lingyun, a research fellow at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

In this regard, the third China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), scheduled to be held in Beijing from July 16-20, has drawn wide expectations. Yu Jianlong, a vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said at a press conference on June 17 that this year's CISCE will align with the rhythm of the country's opening-up strategy and will better serve Chinese and foreign enterprises.

"These expos continue to send the signal of China's high-level opening-up, and China's role as an important participant and driver in global economic cooperation will be more remarkable," Gao said.