YINCHUAN, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The four-day China-Arab States Expo began Wednesday in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The event will focus on trade in commodities and services, as well as cooperation on technology, investment and tourism. The Belt and Road will be highlighted during the expo, and there will be forums on high-speed railways, logistics and credit.

Representatives from 47 countries and regions will assemble, along with executives from 1,080 companies and nearly 5,000 exhibitors covering 31 industries ranging from transport to big data.

The gathering has achieved good results and became an important event for cooperation between China and Arab countries, Kamal Hassan Ali, assistant secretary general for economic affairs of Arab League, said.

China-Arab trade reached 171.14 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, and agreements on projects worth 40.37 billion dollars were signed between the two sides, up 40.8 percent from 2015. China's non-financial direct investment in Arab countries surged 74.9 percent.

Sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Ningxia government, the exposition, held every two years, is the third since 2013.