9th China-Eurasia Expo drives Eurasian economic cooperation

The ninth China-Eurasia Expo officially opened on Thursday in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwest China. The five-day exhibition aims to promote trade and investment cooperation across Asia and Europe. The event features participants from 49 countries, regions, and international organisations, with 27 countries and regions setting up exhibition pavilions. More than 3,000 enterprises and institutions have registered to attend. The United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Russia, and Thailand are participating with dedicated national pavilions for the first time at the expo, which this year carries the theme ‘New Opportunities for the Silk Road, New Vitality for Eurasia’. Kazakhstan and Pakistan have been designated as guests of honour. Covering an area of 140,000 square metres, the exhibition features six specialised zones for investment cooperation, new quality productive forces, specialty industries, green development, culture and tourism, and Silk Road cooperation. Fu Yunyan, director of the Xinjiang international exhibition affairs bureau, said the growing global participation in the event demonstrates Xinjiang’s increasing openness to the outside world. Fu noted that more than 80 trade and investment promotion activities will be held during the expo, aiming to build a comprehensive collaboration platform for domestic and foreign enterprises and institutions to secure orders, negotiate cooperation, promote investment, and explore new markets. Xinjiang possesses unique geographical advantages, connecting with eight countries through 19 government-approved land ports, laying a strong foundation for cross-border exchanges and cooperation. The China-Eurasia Expo was previously known as the Urumqi Foreign Economic and Trade Fair before its status was upgraded in 2010. It has since developed into a comprehensive national-level international exhibition jointly organised by China’s Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and the Xinjiang regional government. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, the value of goods trade between China and Central Asian countries surpassed 100 billion US dollars for the first time in 2025. China has also become the largest trading partner and a major source of investment for Central Asian nations.