A press conference on the upcoming 15th China Northeast Asia Expo is held by China's Ministry of Commerce in Beijing on July 22, 2025. The event will take place in Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province in Northeast China from August 27 to 31. Photo: MOFCOM

China will host the 15th China-Northeast Asia Expo in Changchun, the capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province, with preparations already well underway. This major regional event aims to unlock the potential of cooperation between China and other Northeast Asian countries. 

At a press conference held Tuesday by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), it was announced that the upcoming event, jointly organized by MOFCOM, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and the Jilin provincial government, will take place from August 27 to 31, under the theme of "Working Together in Northeast Asia for an Open and Prosperous Future."

The event aims to build a new platform for industrial and supply chain cooperation, foster new drivers of new quality productive forces, create new channels for expanding trade and investment, serve as a new platform for expanding and upgrading consumption, and a new bridge for cultural exchange and mutual learning — all to further advance regional economic and trade cooperation in Northeast Asia, Vice Minister of Commerce Yan Dong said at the press conference.

Northeast Asian countries are geographically close, culturally connected, and economically linked, with distinct and complementary strengths in resources and capabilities, making the region rich in potential for economic and trade cooperation, Yan said.

In recent years, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of China and relevant countries, China has deepened practical cooperation across various fields with Northeast Asian nations, maintaining strong momentum in economic and trade exchanges.

In 2024, trade between China and the five Northeast Asian countries reached $901.6 billion, up 1.6 percent year-on-year, accounting for nearly 15 percent of China's total foreign trade. China has long remained the largest trading partner of these five countries, while South Korea ranked as China's second largest trading partners and Japan ranked as the third, according to the MOFCOM.

The bilateral investments between China and the regional countries have also seen a boost. Last year, the two-way investment between China and the five Northeast Asian countries exceeded $7 billion, with investment cooperation gradually expanding into emerging fields such as the digital economy, green development, advanced manufacturing, and modern services, said the MOFCOM.

China continues to promote high-level opening-up to the outside world and steadily expands institutional opening-up in areas including rules, regulations, and standards, providing broader opportunities for cooperation to enterprises from Northeast Asian countries and beyond, Yan said.

Over the years, the China-Northeast Asia Expo has played an increasingly positive and important role, serving not only as a platform for the exhibition economy but also a bridge for promoting trade and economic cooperation across the region, Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The expo also provides countries in Northeast Asia with valuable opportunities to enter the Chinese market, while helping Northeast China further open up to the world in a high-quality and sustained way, Da said.

The China-Northeast Asia Expo is currently the world's only international comprehensive expo jointly participated in by all six Northeast Asian countries and open to the global community, according to Yang Andi, vice governor of Jilin, noting that the event plays a significant role in promoting high-level dialogue among Northeast Asian nations, facilitating global trade in goods and services, attracting investment, and enhancing economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

So far, over 8,000 business representatives from 42 countries and regions around the world, as well as from 27 provinces and municipalities across China, have confirmed their participation. A total of 2,796 booths have been booked, with 80 percent of the overall exhibition preparations completed.

At a time when unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, China's joint efforts to strengthen multilateral cooperation with Northeast Asian countries carry positive and far-reaching significance, Da said, noting that expanding collaboration in areas such as trade in goods and services, people-to-people exchanges, and science and technology through such event meets the shared interests of countries in the region, the Chinese expert said.