China Education Expo concludes in Beijing

The China Education Expo 2024 (CEE) wrapped up in Beijing on Saturday, offering international education providers a platform to connect with Chinese students and institutions.

The two-day event attracted more than 380 colleges and institutions from 38 countries and regions, including France, Finland, and the United States.

As a guest country, France introduced 35 institutions of higher learning to the expo, including comprehensive universities, engineering colleges, business schools and institutes of technology, many of which are world-renowned.

"We are the top business school in Europe. Our strengths lie in finance, consulting and interdisciplinary expertise," said Han Xiaotong, an admissions officer for HEC Paris in the Asia Pacific region.

Beginning on October 26, the expo was held in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chengdu and saw a steady increase in the number of participating institutions. In Beijing alone, the number of participating institutions went up 25 percent compared with last year.

Portugal and Serbia were the first-time exhibitors this year. They hoped to enhance cooperation in education between their respective countries and China.

"By the numbers, the trend in the [number]of students from China going to Portugal is increasing along the years. We have been working with Chinese universities, and in the same way, we are promoting that Chinese students can go to Portugal. We welcome very much the offer that the Chinese authorities can do to increase the number of Portuguese students being send to China. That's the aim of people-to-people exchanges," said Paulo Nascimento, Portuguese ambassador to China.

"A very limited number of Chinese students are currently studying in Serbia, less than 1,000. We are here for the first time with cooperation between China and Serbia. And we think that we should promote more cooperation between the Chinese and Serbian higher education institutions, [because] there is room for improvement in this cooperation," said Maria, an exhibitor from Serbia.

The China Education Expo is a show tour organized by the China Education Association for International Exchange and held every October in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities since 2000. It is the largest student recruitment and B2B networking event in China, also an important part of the China Annual Conference and Expo for International Education.

Last year, 374 overseas schools, colleges, universities, governmental organizations, embassies and consulates from 34 countries and regions attended the CEE tour, which attracted around 30,000 visitors in four cities from all over the country.

China Education Expo concludes in Beijing

The ripple effects of tensions in the Middle East have now spread to the major eastern Chinese trading hub of Yiwu, a city famously known as "the world's supermarket," as companies and traders try to work around the disruption and rely on strong logistics networks across the region to keep business moving.

The Yiwu International Trade Market has become an important center for foreign trade, housing nearly 80,000 booths offering over two million types of commodities. However, the recent situation brought by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the disruption it has caused to both shipping transport and air cargo is forcing some traders to take steps to mitigate the impact.

Zhang Shidan, a plastic household goods trader in Yiwu, said her company has been left with no choice but to raise product prices as transportation and insurance costs have surged due to escalating tensions in the Middle East.

"We will adjust prices after the stocks of most products run out. The prices are expected to rise by 10 percent," Zhang said.

The travel turmoil brought by the conflict has also created a headache for customers from the region who are trying to reach Yiwu themselves.

"We flew from Lebanon to Egypt, from Egypt to Dubai, from Dubai to Hangzhou. It's a long time. Because in [the main] Lebanon airport, only one company can fly -- a Middle East company -- so its expensive," said Heysam Yassine, a Lebanese buyer.

While making the trip from the Middle East to Yiwu has become more difficult, logistics companies with well-established supply chain networks across the region are helping to cushion the impact on trade and working to distribute goods as best as they can.

"We have 28 warehouses across 12 countries in the Middle East, so we have a relatively complete layout in the region," said Chen Fangfang, general manager of Safe Way Express Cargo, a logistics and cargo shipping firm.

Last year, the total value of Yiwu's exports reached over 100 billion U.S. dollars, with more than 14 billion U.S. dollars going to Middle Eastern markets.

Traders in Yiwu look to work around Middle East disruption, rely on strong logistics networks