Increased economic ties among central provinces

Organized to display investment opportunities and promote regional cooperation, the eighth Expo Central China will be held in Henan province from May 18 to 20.

Organizers said the host province is expected to use the expo to promote new programs in urbanization, industrialization and modern agriculture.

"Development of Henan's Zhengzhou Airport Industrial Park will be a highlight of Henan's effort," said the event's organizing committee.

The airport park in Zhengzhou will showcase its business opportunities in electronic information, air transport and modern logistics.

The expo is jointly sponsored by the governments of Jiangxi, Shanxi, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui and Henan provinces, all in the central region of China, so how to coordinate development will be a dominant issue at the event, said organizers.

"Since the State Council proposed the 'Rise of Central China' plan in 2006, remarkable achievements have been made in the region," said Liu Shiwei, deputy secretary-general of Henan provincial government. "And the annual event begun in the same year has been the major showcase for such achievements."

He added that the expo is also an important channel for networking and exchanges among businesses and governments in the region.

Liu said the milestone in regional coordination reached at past events is a program to form a Central China Economic Zone that covers all of Henan and some areas in Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi and Anhui.

The implementation plan for the program was approved by the State Council last November, making it a national strategy.

Government officials from the provinces will sit together at a summit forum to discuss concrete measures to carry out the program, said Liu.

In addition to showcasing the general image of each province, the event also displays products, services and investment projects.

As well, there will be shows on quality products from Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Hong Kong, as well as Australia and Pakistan.

Participating businesses will bring 5,850 projects to seek potential investment partners, including 394 from Jiangxi, 830 from Shanxi, 390 from Hubei, 259 from Hunan, 1,035 from Anhui and 2,942 from Henan.

The projects cover a wide range of fields including advanced manufacturing, electronic information, food, light industry, tourism, trade, logistics and modern agriculture.

The organizing committee said more than 4,000 foreign business representatives and over 19,000 domestic company delegates have confirmed that they will attend the expo.

Among them are reps from 52 Fortune 500 companies including Caterpillar, Cargill, Wal-Mart, General Electric and Microsoft.

Renowned domestic companies including Baidu, Vanke, Tencent and Lenovo will also be present at the event.

Leading international and domestic organizations such as the World Chinese Entrepreneur Association, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, and the United States International Trade Commission will also participate in the expo.

Its main session will be held in Zhengzhou, with others held in Luoyang, Luohe and Sanmenxia, said organizers.

Contact the writers through shibaoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/16/2013 page10)