A business forum on the China International Import Expo was held in Kazakhstan on Thursday.

Yu Xiantao, economic and commercial counsellor of Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan, attended the forum and expressed his willingness to encourage Kazakhstan's companies to participate in the CIIE and showcase their high-quality products.

Yu added that he is looking forward to seeing more Kazakhstan's companies and agencies join the sixth CIIE, which will take place from Nov 5 to 10 in Shanghai. Since it began, the CIIE has been a witness to closer China-Kazakhstan cooperation.

According to a representative of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), which is the venue for the CIIE, Kazakhstan has always been a significant participant of the CIIE. Over the past five editions, hundreds of Kazakh enterprises have participated in the Business Exhibition and occupied a combined exhibition area of 2,000 square meters.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan even once described the CIIE as a "golden gate" for global commodities to enter the Chinese market. Many Kazakh companies have achieved commercial success at the expo, with the intended turnover generated over the years totaling $430 million. Several of Kazakhstan's renowned goods like candies and dairy products have also become well-known to Chinese consumers thanks to the CIIE.

Egemberdieva Asel Yerikovna, deputy CEO of QazTrade, said during the forum that Kazakhstan is upbeat about its economic and trade cooperation with China as bilateral trade between the two rose 34 percent year-on-year to $24.1 billion in 2022.

Speaking of QazTrade's preparations for this year's expo, Yerikovna said that the organization will once again help more Kazakh enterprises enter the Chinese market and make their products known to the world.

During the forum, a CIIE delegation updated the audience about the preparations for this year's event. According to the delegation, over 360,000 sq m of exhibition area has been booked by more than 2,000 enterprises. The number of Fortune 500 companies and industry-leading enterprises taking part this year is also more than that of the last edition. Notably, the physical Country Exhibition will make its return this year. In addition, the World Openness Report 2023 will be released at the sixth Hongqiao International Economic Forum, a key component of the CIIE. In addition, the World Openness Report 2023 will be released at the sixth Hongqiao International Economic Forum, a key component of the CIIE.

By Ma Linmiao