Online Silk Road conference to be held in northwest China

YINCHUAN, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- A Silk Road conference featuring Internet cooperation will take place during the sixth China-Arab States Expo, which will run from Sept. 21 to 24 in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, said local authorities Monday.

Starting on Sept. 21, the two-day conference will build a cooperation platform for participants in new technologies, new scenarios and new services, said the region's government.

It aims to encourage countries along the Belt and Road to give full play to their respective advantages, and deepen cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and investment, so that the fruits of digital development will benefit more people of all countries.

The event will attract experts, scholars and business representatives in the field of digital education and digital economy from China and countries along the Belt and Road, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Thailand.

The conference includes a main forum and two sub-forums, and will hold an industrial App innovation application competition. It has seen four editions since 2015, which has played a positive role in promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and countries along the Belt and Road in the field of internet.

First held in 2013, the China-Arab States Expo has become a significant platform for China and Arab states to promote pragmatic cooperation and advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

Over the past ten years, the China-Arab States Expo has attracted over 400,000 participants and 6,000 enterprises from 112 countries and regions, signing more than 1,200 cooperation projects in modern agriculture, high technologies, and biomedicine.

China is now the Arab states' largest trading partner. China-Arab trade volume almost doubled from 2012 to 431.4 billion U.S. dollars last year. In the first half of this year, trade between China and the Arab states reached 199.9 billion U.S. dollars.