The Fifth Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT) is unveiled in Chongqing on May 18. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

The Fifth Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT) opened in Liangjiang New Area, Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, on May 18.

The four-day expo has welcomed 186 guests and over 900 outstanding enterprises from all over China, as well as 40 other countries and regions.

The event is a testament to the power of collaboration and global cooperation. Malaysia, this year's guest country of honor, ranks as Chongqing's second-largest business partner in ASEAN. Other guest countries of honor at previous fairs include Hungary, Uruguay, Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Mexico.

2023 serves as the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and WCIFIT has become a pivotal platform to pursue this initiative. It features exhibition areas for countries involved in the BRI, promotes the founding of the annual meeting of overseas Chinese business people in BRI countries, and holds theme-based forums and matchmaking events to ensure companies from BRI countries and western China can establish business partnerships in a more targeted manner.

Meanwhile, the second China (Chongqing) cross-border e-commerce trade fair, which will be held during the four-day expo, is the largest of its kind in western China. It will include purchasing groups from Thailand, Iran, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and the Philippines, all searching for promising sellers. 

In other news, the 2023 new land-sea corridor international collaboration forum was held together with the opening ceremony, when politicians and traders from Singapore, Laos, Malaysia, and Vietnam gave themed lectures.