The 2023 Guangdong 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Expo concluded last Sunday in Guangzhou. This year, the event has attracted over 1,000 enterprises from 57 countries and regions and more than 20,000 buyers and concluded with nearly 2 billion RMB in deals.
Along with the expo, a theme conference, five parallel forums, and two supporting activities were held during the three days. Nearly 1,100 people attended these meetings, including former politicians and ministerial officials from different countries, heads of renowned business associations in 18 countries as well as international organizations, prestigious economists, and business leaders.
"I have been busy in the past few days communicating and negotiating with buyers from China and other BRI participating countries and regions," said Mark Clayton, vice president of the British Chamber of Commerce in Guangdong.
He added "Most of the trades between UK and China are from the Greater Bay Area. In 2022, UK exports to China increased by 53.6%, and China's exports to the UK increased by 9.5%. The rest of the world can see both countries' openness to business. I am very happy to be able to promote the cultural and economic exchange between UK and China."
Meanwhile, the 1st "Belt and Road" International Youth Leaders Forum was held to create an exchange and cooperation platform for young entrepreneurs from all over the world. Representatives of outstanding young leaders from 14 countries and regions, including UK, France, Portugal, Ecuador, Cambodia, Malaysia, Italy, and Hong Kong SAR of China, were invited to share their views and insights on "International economic and cultural development trends under the influence of AI".
Beginning in 2014, the Guangdong 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Expo has served as a platform for deepening regional cooperation and promoting economic and cultural exchanges between Guangdong and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) participating countries and regions.
