Kunming to weave regional ties

China invites Southeast and South Asian countries to come closer at its provincial capital, Kunming, to ramp up trade, investment and connectivity as the biggest expo focussing on the region gets under way in the spring city this (Friday) afternoon. Beijing has long been planning to open up to Southeast and South Asian countries using Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province, as a hub. Its provincial leadership is set to welcome high-profile guests, including Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in the 5-day 2nd China-South Asia expo and the 22nd China Kunming Import and Export Fair. The expo came after China’s new set of reforms and opening-up policy unlocked an additional $500 billion of overseas Chinese investment potential and imports of over $10 trillion in the next five years, creating new and greater opportunities for South Asian countries. Keeping this in mind, authorities have made changes in the expo format to make the mega event ‘economical, pragmatic and highly efficient’. In its many new edition, it would be the launching pad of the China-South Asia Science and Technology Ministerial Conference aimed at promoting its national strategy: ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and the ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’. China is also pressing ahead with the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor plan with Kunming as its hub. ‘More ties with the spring city and more deals in South Asia’ is the expo slogan with Nepal as the theme country this year. Bangladesh was the theme country in the first expo last year, according to a news agency.