Sixth China-Arab States Expo to take place in NW China

BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The sixth China-Arab States Expo will take place in Yinchuan, the capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, in September, the country's commerce ministry announced on Monday.

Starting from Sept. 21, the four-day biennial event will draw the participation of representatives from 14 governments, 13 international and regional organizations as well as foreign institutions in China, and over 60 foreign business associations and enterprises, officials revealed at a press conference.

First held in 2013, the China-Arab States Expo has become an important platform for China and Arab states to promote pragmatic cooperation and advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei told the briefing.

Over the past ten years, the China-Arab States Expo has attracted over 400,000 participants and 6,000 enterprises from 112 countries and regions, who signed more than 1,200 cooperation projects in areas such as modern agriculture, high technologies and biomedicine, according to Li.

China is now the Arab states' largest trading partner. China-Arab trade volume almost doubled from the 2012 level to 431.4 billion U.S. dollars last year. In the first half of this year, trade between China and the Arab states reached 199.9 billion dollars.