On December 16, the 5-day 2018 China (Hainan) International Tropical Agricultural Products Winter Trade Fair (Winter Fair) was concluded in Haikou. Deals worth RMB 77.237 billion were signed during the fair, hitting a record high. In addition, the fair is a fruitful event for international exchange and cooperation and an important platform for Hainan which is building the island into a pilot free trade zone and a free trade port with Chinese characteristics.
In the “Belt and Road” International Pavilion, various foreign products are on exhibition, including Brazilian beef steak, Vietnamese coffee, and French red wine, as well as “Cat Mountain King” durian from Malaysia, latex mattresses from Thailand, black tea from Sri Lanka, rose oil from Bulgaria, and exquisite handicrafts from Nepal. Enthusiastic foreign exhibitors attracted crowds of Chinese buyers.
This year, invited by the organizing committee, 138 foreign firms and over 50 foreign guests from 34 countries and regions in Africa and along the Belt and Road, including Mongolia, Russia, Bulgaria, Papua New Guinea, Mauritius, and the Philippines, have attended the event, exhibiting 400 products.
During the fair, Hainan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and PENGSHENG Industrial Zone, a national overseas economic and trade cooperation zone, signed a letter of intent to promote the cooperation between Uzbekistan and Hainan on special agricultural products. Alejandro Robaina Tobacco Plantation, a Cuba-based company, entered a RMB 350-million agreement with Danzhou Municipal People’s Government to cooperate on a cigar planting and processing park. 32 contracted investment projects amounting to RMB 43.697 billion were secured, demonstrating the international influence of the fair and the investment attracting capacity of Hainan.
Liu Cigui, Secretary of Hainan CPC Provincial Committee, noted that Hainan should get the utmost out of local tropical natural resources and the preferential policies issued by the central government, continue to strengthen the role of agriculture in foreign exchanges and cooperation, and shoulder the responsibility to serve the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2019, Hainan will seek foreign agricultural partners mainly in countries along the Belt and Road, especially in Israel, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Thailand, and will focus on seeds & seedlings and agricultural technology.
Source: Hainan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
