Monitoring Desk
Kunming: The 9th China-South Asia Exposition (CSA Expo) and the 29th China Kunming Import and Export Fair opened in grandeur on June 19. Distinguished guests and business representatives from various coun-tries gathered by the Dianchi Lake shore in central Yunnan’s Kunming city, working together to elevate the win-win cooperation between China and south-southeast Asian countries to a new height.
The CSA Expo is a high-level, comprehensive international event integrating international trade, in-vestment negotiations, and cultural exchanges. It serves as a vital platform for deepening economic and trade cooperation and fostering cultural ties between China and South Asian countries. As the Chinese pivot of opening-up to south-southeast Asia, Yunnan is expected to leverage its role in southward opening-up, collaborating with regional countries to jointly create a brighter future.
Twelve years of experiences pave the way for long-term success. Since its inaugural session in 2013, the expo has spanned 12 years. With the event evolving from the “South Asian Countries’ Commodity Fair” to today’s CSA Expo, Yunnan has seen increasingly closer trade ties and expanding cooperation with neighboring countries in South and Southeast Asia. Trade volume between China and South Asian nations has surged from less than $100 billion in 2013 to nearly $200 billion in 2024, with an average an-nual growth rate of about 6.3%.
In traditional Chinese culture, 12 years mark a full cycle of growth and evolution. Having progressed over the past cycle, the CSA Expo has now become a hallmark event for Yunnan province and a key platform for multilateral diplomacy, economic cooperation, and cultural exchanges between China and South Asia, Southeast Asia, and beyond. It continues to expand in cooperative scopes, injecting sus-tained momentum into regional economy.
Aligned with international trends and key economic priorities, this year’s expo is packed with highlights and excitement. Starting this year, the expo will be held annually in June, spanning six days. Compared to previous editions, this year’s expo has seen significant enhancements in scale and content, primarily reflected in its “internationalization, specialization, market orientation, and branding.”
In terms of internationalization, companies from 54 countries and regions have signed for participa-tion, covering all South and Southeast Asian nations. For specialization, 11 of the 16 pavilions belong to the specialized ones, including the Manufacturing Pavilion, the Green Energy Pavilion, the Coffee In-dustry Pavilion, and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Pavilion—the latter two being newly introduced this year. Market orientation is evident as the expo achieves full market-driven operation for the first time. For branding, the inaugural “CSA Expo Release Hall” provides exhibitors a platform to debut new products, technologies, and services.
Openness deepens exchanges, and cooperation leads to shared success.
In today’s world, the histori-cal trends of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefits are unstoppable. Yunnan will continue high-standard opening-up, build itself into a pivot of opening-up toward South and Southeast Asia, further brand the CSA expo, and ensure that the “Yunnan opportunity” is shared by more people through the expo. By strengthening exchanges, unity, and collaboration, China and its neighbors can jointly build a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful, and amicable Asian home, creating an even brighter future.
