Canton Fair contributes to promoting Belt and Road cooperation

With many exhibitors getting large orders and purchasers getting new products and new information, the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, is becoming an important platform for deepening cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Canton Fair's global partnership program has covered organizations from 105 countries and regions, and more than 140, or over 70 percent of the organizations, are from Belt and Road partner countries.

At the ongoing 137th edition of the Canton Fair, China's Wuhu MBO Import and Export Co., Ltd. is exhibiting its latest models of air conditioners that are able to make rooms warm amid a temperature of minus 35 degrees Celsius and keep the air cool amid 60 degrees Celsius, drawing many purchasers. The Canton Fair has helped the company expand its markets in China's Belt and Road partner countries in recent years.

"We estimate that we can sell 400,000 to 500,000 air conditioners at this edition of the Canton Fair. The number is actually much larger than we expected,"said Zhang Fan, general manager of Wuhu MBO Import and Export Co., Ltd.

"This air-conditioner brand is developing very fast in Uzbekistan. The number of our purchasing orders to this company increased from 10,000 sets to 60,000 sets in two years," said a purchaser from Uzbekistan.

Old and new comers from China's Belt and Road partner countries said the Canton Fair has been bringing new business opportunities for them.

"We are looking also for AI products. Now we can see this market is going to this direction, it's very hot. So we are studying also this market to introduce it later in Brazil," said a Brazilian purchaser.

"We give orders also, and we will give more (orders) also," said a Pakistani purchaser.

The 137th edition of the Canton Fair kicked off on Tuesday, with the number of export exhibitors exceeding 30,000 for the first time in the history of this famous event.

Scheduled to take place from April 15 to May 5 in the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou, the current edition of the fair has brought together about 31,000 participating firms, up by nearly 900 compared with the previous fair.

More than 200,000 overseas buyers from 215 countries and regions have preregistered, with the lineup featuring the likes of retail giants Walmart and Target from the United States, Carrefour from France, Tesco and Kingfisher from Britain, and Germany's Metro.

The current edition of the fair is divided into three phases. The first will focus on advanced manufacturing, the second on quality home furnishings, and the third on products that promote a better quality of life.

The event will involve 172 product zones, including, for the first time, a special zone for service robots focused on showcasing the latest achievements of China's AI development efforts.

Canton Fair contributes to promoting Belt and Road cooperation

Canton Fair contributes to promoting Belt and Road cooperation

Canton Fair contributes to promoting Belt and Road cooperation

A Chinese envoy on Thursday called on all peace-loving countries to promote the implementation of the two-state solution as it is the sole viable solution to the Middle East issue.

The call was made by China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Geng Shuang at a commemoration marking the 77th anniversary of the Nakba ("catastrophe" in Arabic) which was held by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The Nakaba refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It remains a deeply traumatic event in the Palestinian collective memory and continues to shape their struggle for justice and for their right to return to their homes.

Urging steps to realize a comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestinian question, Geng stressed that only through the implementation of the two-state solution can the Nakba be consigned to history.

Seventy-seven years ago, more than half of the Palestinian people were expelled or fled from their homes during the Arab-Israeli war, and they have since embarked on the arduous journey of striving for their legitimate rights and interests, Geng said.

"Today, 77 years later, the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people has not only remained unaddressed, but has even worsened," he pointed out.

Noting the question of Palestine, at the core of the Middle East issue, bears on peace, stability, and long-term security of the region, Geng said the implementation of the two-State solution is the only viable way to resolve the question.

The imperative now is to immediately realize a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and alleviate the humanitarian disaster, Geng said, urging Israel to implement the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, comply with the International Court of Justice provisional measures and advisory opinion, and immediately cease all military attacks and violations of international law, especially the International Humanitarian Law.

"On the question of Palestine, China, upholding fairness and justice, remains steadfast in its support for the justice cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights for the early establishment of the fully sovereign and independent State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and for the early admission of the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations," Geng added.

Chinese envoy stresses two-state solution as sole viable solution to Middle East issue