Zhejiang's department of commerce holds expos of goods abroad, intended to expand the overseas markets for Zhejiang enterprises. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

Official statistics from Zhejiang's department of commerce show that during the first half of 2019, 11 goods expos were held in countries such as Mexico and Poland, a year-on-year increase of 57 percent. More than 60,000 buyers were received at the various events.

These expos were intended to help Zhejiang enterprises expand international markets, especially emerging ones along the Belt and Road route. A total of 688 enterprises attended the expos, generating turnover of $320 million, said Zhuang Jin, a spokesman of Zhejiang's department of commerce. 

YD Illumination, an outdoor decoration lighting manufacturer from Hangzhou, made a deal with a stadium in Saudi Arabia when they attended the self-organized expo for the first time last year. This year, they went there again, bringing the new products that met customers' preferences in Saudi Arabia. 

"The volume of the products exported to Saudi Arabia has now surpassed 10 million yuan ($1.45 million), and the expo has become a significant channel for enterprises to further develop the Saudi market," said Zhang Yanping, operation director of the company.

Another advantage of self-organized expos is that the exhibitors can attend the event in their own names. As a staff member of Atexco, a large-scale digital textile printer manufacturer from Hangzhou, said, they had to apply for booths in the name of local companies through the agents when attending the IGATEX expo in Pakistan in previous years. In 2019, Atexco attended the self-organized expo in its own name and enjoyed turnover of $500,000.

Zhejiang's self-organized expo was held in Dominica for the first time this year. Dominica's GDP rose by 7 percent in 2018. Its economic growth rate was the fastest in Latin America and the Caribbean regions. Attracted by the vast potential of this emerging market, Zhejiang hosted an expo with dozens of companies. The goods covered the fields of electronics, auto parts, hardware and building materials and textile and apparel fabrics. Zhejiang thus became the first province to organize a large-scale economic and trade delegation to Dominica to hold trade exhibitions since the establishment of Sino-Dominican diplomatic relations.

In the next half year, the Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province will organize 13 exhibitions of goods in India, Vietnam, Japan, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Kenya, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Morocco, Myanmar and Malaysia, to boost Zhejiang companies' global development.