Magazine: China Smart Expo got considerably bigger this year

Exhibitors and government delegations from two Chinese provinces came to China Smart Expo 2014. The six-day exhibition, trade fair and conference was held between 12-14 June and 16-18 June 2014 in the Budapest China Mart building and its main goal was to bring together Hungarian enterprises and prospective Chinese business partners.

In part one (12-14 Junes the province of Guangxi was in the limelight, while in part two (16-18 June) Shandong’s representatives were present at the Expo. Participants had the chance to familiarise themselves with opportunities provided by Central European Trade and Logistics Cooperation Zone Co.’s (CECZ) HUF 1-billion trade development fund. CECZ offers a full set of services to help SMEs in Central and Eastern Europe which would like to do business with Chinese partners. For instance CECZ’s services include pre-financing goods ordered via Chinese partners, paying for 70 percent of their value for a 120-day period. In China CECZ provides warehousing and logistics services, sourcing and goods control services, legal support, interpreting and translation, and they even organise marketing events. On 12 June an investment cooperation conference was held in Hotel Hélia, with the 150 representatives from Guangxi; Hungary was represented by ChinaCham Hungary, HITA and the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ). The speakers were HITA president János Berényi, trade counsellor Wang Hongliang from the Chinese embassy and Zhang Xiaoqin, vice president of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region’s government. In 2013 trade between the province and the European Union represented a value of USD 1.76 million. Hungary is an important trade partner and there are great possibilities in our cooperation. In order to strengthen the ties between the two parties, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region’s trade department, ChinaCham Hungary and the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a trade and economic cooperation agreement. The trade fair also opened on 12 June: in the China Mart building more than 4,000m² of floor space was used by 84 firms. Guangxi province’s foreign trade expanded by 11.4 percent in 2013 and valued at USD 32.8 billion – this growth rate was 3.8 points higher than the national average. Bilateral trade between Hungary and the province was up 124 percent in January-April 2014 if compared with the previous year. Between 16 and 18 June the province of Shandong introduced itself in China Mart, for instance Tai’an Yimeite Machinery and Sanpower Electromechanic were among the major companies to be there. The organisers stressed that with its warehousing and logistics services Hungary can be a trade gateway to Europe for China.