5th Global Digital Trade Expo to open in Hangzhou with record overseas participation: official

The 5th Global Digital Trade Expo (GDTE) will open later this month in Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, with record overseas participation expected, organizers said Monday.

Vice Commerce Minister Yan Dong said at a Beijing press conference the expo will run from Sept 23 through 27, spotlighting the pivotal role of artificial intelligence (AI) across key sectors.

"The Global Digital Trade Expo is China's only national-level international professional expo themed on digital trade. Over the past editions, it has attracted over 5,000 domestic and foreign enterprises, 87,000 professional buyers and 627,000 visitors, featuring over 1,200 debut, first-time exhibits and first-time showcases. The 5th GDTE will be held in Hangzhou City of Zhejiang Province from Sept 23 to 27," said Yan.

Yan noted the expo's scale and highlighted its strong international presence, pointing to record overseas delegations and guest countries of honor.

"To date, the expo covers a total area of 170,000 square meters, with international exhibitors making up for over 20 percent. Malaysia and Hungary will serve as the guest countries of honor, and the number of overseas delegations is set to exceed the total of previous editions. Representatives from 121 countries and regions, as well as 29 international organizations, have confirmed their participation and will conduct exchanges and consultations on topics such as Silk Road e-commerce, cross-border data flows and green trade," said Yan.

He also highlighted the AI‑driven theme and new features of this year's expo.

"This year's expo is themed 'Meet the AI Future at GDTE', and more than one-third of the exhibitors will be AI companies. It takes the lead in setting up a 'Token Zone,' and bases for pilot-scale testing of AI application will make their debut. The event will also host a world AI open source competition, an embodied intelligence application challenge, and a global brain-computer interface innovation competition to accelerate the application of AI technology," he said.

5th Global Digital Trade Expo to open in Hangzhou with record overseas participation: official

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Adrijana Mesarovic on Monday, who is in China to attend the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) in Xiamen City, east China's Fujian Province.

Noting that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Serbia comprehensive strategic partnership, Han said that bilateral relations have achieved leapfrog development over recent years under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state. In May this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping met again with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, charting the course for building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era.

China is prepared to join hands with Serbia in implementing the important consensus of the two leaders, cementing political mutual trust, leveraging the preferential arrangements under the bilateral free trade agreement, and deepening cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure and emerging industries, Han said.

China also encourages its enterprises to invest in Serbia and further advance China-Serbia friendly and cooperative relations, he noted.

Mesarovic said Serbia highly values high-level mutual trust between the two countries and reaffirms its adherence to the one-China policy. She expressed gratitude for China's strong support for Serbia's national development and said Serbia is ready to strengthen development synergy with China and continuously deepen cooperation in various fields to benefit the two peoples.

Chinese vice president meets Serbian Deputy Prime Minister