Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for closer cooperation between China and South Asian countries on Wednesday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said China welcomes South Asian countries to share the benefits of its development at the opening ceremony of the seventh China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province.

China and South Asian countries should deepen strategic mutual trust, support each other in international and regional affairs, jointly advocate open regionalism, build closer regional cooperation, safeguard the interests of developing countries, and defend international justice, he said.

He urged both sides to deepen connectivity, push forward the construction of main corridors such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the China-Nepal cross-border railway, accelerate the construction of key corridors, nodes and projects, and promote the smooth flows of regional economic cycle. 

Both sides should deepen economic and trade cooperation, further promote trade facilitation and system standards docking, drive investment cooperation through joint construction and sharing, and close connection of the global production and supply chains, he said.

He also called for more people-to-people exchanges, tightening ties and elevating traditional friendship between the two sides to create a more cohesive and diverse social foundation for regional cooperation.

China-South Asia Expo has become an important platform for promoting exchanges and cooperation between the two sides and even the rest of the world, Wang noted.

South Asian countries are welcome to explore more opportunities for cooperation through this event, achieve more cooperation results, jointly promote the revitalization and development of Asia, and work together to create a better future, he added.

Other participants at the opening ceremony said that South Asian countries have actively promoted the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative with China which achieved fruitful results.

They thanked China for building an efficient cooperation platform to help South Asian countries board on the express train of China's development, and looked forward to strengthening solidarity and collaboration with China to contribute to regional openness, inclusiveness, peace, stability and common development.

The Expo running from August 16 to 20 is co-hosted by Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Yunnan provincial government. It has attracted over 2,000 exhibitors from more than 60 countries and regions. 

(Cover: The opening ceremony of the seventh China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, August 16, 2023. /CFP)