By Lu Yan

When thinking of Xian， capital of northwest Chinas Shaanxi Province， the fi rst thing that probably comes to mind is the Terracotta Warriors and Horses， a collection of sculptures depicting the armies of Emperor Qinshihuang （259-210 B.C.）， the fi rst emperor of a unifi ed China. But the city was also the starting point of the Silk Road that played a prominent role in the countrys external relations for centuries. Today it has again become an international economic hub， as it plays host to the Third Silk Road International Exposition （SRIE）.

“Its pretty amazing to see the countrys historical vicissitudes through ancient walls and relic buildings. Im very lucky to have witnessed the great changes taking place in Xian in the past decade as it becomes an international city attracting domestic and foreign experts，” said Chen Jinyu， a 28-yearold chauffeured car services driver in Xian.

A convention of opportunities

A total of 230 delegations from governments， international organizations， business communities and academia from over 75 countries and regions participated in the event which kicked off on May 11， with the UK and Malaysia as the honored guest nations.

“The SRIE plays an important role in enhancing economic cooperation， people-topeople exchanges and trade and investment facilitation among countries along the Silk Road，” said Qian Keming， Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce， at the opening cer- emony of the expo.

To provide a platform for guests to communicate and explore collaboration opportunities， the five-day event， under the theme New Era， New Pattern and New Development， had an impressive exhibition along with forums which covered various topics such as the law-based business environment， product quality improvement， trade facilitation， market access， intercity business promotion， urbanization， technological innovation， brand building and cultural and tourism cooperation.

Simo P？ivinen， Development Director of Finnish company Kouvola Innovation， Ltd.， told Beijing Review， “The economic relationship between our two countries has worked very smoothly， especially after Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to Finland last year.” In November 2017， his company joined with Xian International Trade& Logistic Park and Kazakhstan Railway to launch the Kouvola-Xian line， the fi rst railway link to connect China with Nordic countries including Finland， Russia and Kazakhstan. The route has helped Scandinavian goods， such as electronic devices and agricultural specialties， to be exported to China and has facilitated cargo shipments from Western China to Nordic countries.

“The Belt and Road Initiative gave us a reason to start developing train transportation between China and North Europe. I hope during the SRIE we can establish more contacts with Chinese companies and plan more trains，” P？ivinen added.

Adama Essy， a business consultant with Kurok International from Cote dIvoire in West Africa， also sought business cooperation with Chinese companies in real estate construction. “We will try to get some experience from our Chinese counterparts. Its a good opportunity to see how people work here. We also expect more investment from China to Cote dIvoire，” he said.

The other highlight of the Third SRIE was products displayed at the exhibition. Consumer goods and high technology products from China as well as from more than 20 countries scattered throughout six venues， attracted more than 300，000 visitors and customers.

Haliza Industries， a Malaysian company focused on Halal snack manufacturing， was one of the companies at the exhibition. Its manager， Ammar Hafiz， told Beijing Review that China， with its huge population， is a lucrative market. Besides promoting the brand during the exhibition， the company concluded a deal worth 1.27 million yuan （$200，000） with a company located in Chengdu， capital of southwest Chinas Sichuan Province.

Chinese companies also exhibited their wares to visitors from home and abroad， including special local products like tea， embroidery and porcelain， as well as cuttingedge innovations in aerospace， automobile， electronic information， clean energy， artifi cial intelligence， virtual reality， among others.

Regional business ties

As one of the honored guest countries， the UK had a strong presence at the event. According to Rona Fairhead， Minister for Trade and Export Promotion at the Department for International Trade of the UK， more than 200 British delegates and 50 enterprises participated in the event， making it the largest British delegation to visit northwest China.

“Trade between China and the UK has never been stronger...Chinese investment is expanding in the UK，” she said in a speech at the opening ceremony. She also commented on how all the countries along the Belt and Road routes and enterprises across the globe were gathered at the event for trade exchanges， free capital flow， technology competition and communication of ideas and that the SRIE showed the world a modern， open and inclusive Shaanxi.

In the past few years， the relationship between cities in the UK and Shaanxi has been on the rise. Fairhead said in the last year alone， the joint venture between Queen Mary University in London and Northwest Polytechnical University in Xian was a great success. The Liverpool World Museum opened a Terracotta Warriors exhibition in February which was seen by thousands of visitors.

Edinburgh has also established a sister relationship with Xian. At the China-UK Regional Economy and Investment Forum on May 11， Frank Ross， Lord Provost of Edinburgh， shared with the audience the great potential for business cooperation between the two countries and two cities. He said Chinese companies doing business in Edinburgh vary from hi-tech， life science and software development to retail.

“This is a healthy economic mix which is important to ensure that we continue to have a sustained and varied economy，” Ross noted， presenting several examples. Chinas leading online tourism service provider Ctrip announced in September 2017 that it would open a customer service call center in Edinburgh， creating up to 200 new jobs. Chinas IT giant Huawei and the University of Edinburgh announced the opening of a joint laboratory for distributing data management processing in June 2017， in the hope of providing direction for cutting-edge research for the next generation of information technology.

“I hope we see more interest in investment in the UK from Shaanxi and across China，” said the countrys trade commissioner to China， Richard Burn.

Representatives from the UKs northwestern and central regions， especially potential partners with Shaanxi， also made presentations to introduce their business environment and explore how the two regions can work together. Lu Zhiyuan， Vice Governor of Shaanxi， noted that the province and the UK enjoy a solid foundation for exchanges and cooperation， and the two economies are highly complementary.

“Shaanxis market will be more open， ready to embrace quality products and services from the UK. We will ensure a more fair and transparent investment environment for UK enterprises，” Lu said.

Paul Stowers， an official from the UK Department for International Trade， said the forum made him realize that the industrial similarity between Shaanxi and the UKs northwestern region is uncanny. He said both of them attach great importance to areas like fi nance， advanced manufacturing， energy and life science， which offer more opportunities for future collaboration.