A promotion conference for the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) was held in La Paz, Bolivia, with almost 100 political and business representatives attending, including Fernando Huanacuni Mamani, Foreign Minister of Bolivia.

Liang Yu, Chinese Ambassador to Bolivia, pointed out in his speech that the CIIE is the first import-themed national-level expo in the world, a new cooperative platform built by China for countries worldwide to expand economic and trade relations and tap the Chinese market, as well as a significant measure for China to further promote the “Belt and Road” Initiative and the proposal of “Building a Community with Shared Future for Mankind”. China never seek a favorable balance of trade. Instead, China hopes to introduce more Bolivian products through the CIIE to benefit the people of both countries.

Wang Ruigang, Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Bolivia, introduced the overview of the first CIIE to the attendees, focusing on the industrial advantages of Bolivia in the fields such as agriculture and tourism.

Wang Ruigang said that the China-Bolivia mutually-beneficial economic and trade cooperation is the ballast and thrust of the relations between the two countries. China has been the second largest trading partner of Bolivia for two consecutive years, and the two economies are highly complementary. He hopes that entrepreneurs from both countries can join hands to share the dividends of China’s reform and opening-up.

Huanacuni said that Bolivia’s economy has maintained rapid and stable growth in recent years, yet its export industry has still suffered from the weak global economic recovery. Through the first CIIE to give full play to the superiority of its featured products, Bolivia hopes to further open up the Asian market, especially that in China, and boost relations between the two countries to a higher level while realizing better economic growth.