A view of Nantong Port in East China's Jiangsu Province File Photo: cnsphoto

Diplomats from Uzbekistan, Cambodia and Pakistan were invited to promote the specialties from their countries during a live sales event organized by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Monday, as part of the 2022 Chinese New Year online shopping festival featuring commodities from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries.

To promote the high-quality products from SCO countries and increase the supply of high-quality imported goods in the domestic market, the MOFCOM specially organized this live sales campaign. The event  features 1,500 categories of products from SCO countries that will be introduced by their respective diplomats to the Chinese audience through live-streaming on Alibaba and Douyin, according to a statement by the ministry on Monday.

The year 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the SCO and cooperation in e-commerce has played a positive role in promoting collaboration between enterprises and local governments and expanding economic and trade cooperation among SCO members, the ministry said.

In addition to the SCO, China is also working to enhance high-quality development of cooperation with the five Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, which are celebrating the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations with China this year.

China and the five Central Asian countries have deepened economic and trade cooperation, built rich, dynamic and mutually beneficial economic and trade relations, and achieved solid and fruitful cooperation results since the establishment of diplomatic ties 30 years ago, said Wang Wentao, China's Minister of Commerce, at a virtual forum on China-Central Asia Economic and Trade Cooperation on Monday. 

Trade and investment cooperation has grown steadily, as trade between China and the five Central Asian countries has considerably increased and China's direct investment in the region has exceeded $14 billion, Wang said.

Taking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties as an opportunity, the MOFCOM is ready to work together with the commerce departments of the five countries to take economic and trade cooperation to a new level, Wang said.

During the forum, the MOFCOM and the economic and trade departments of the five Central Asian countries issued a joint initiative on high-quality and sustainable development of China-Central Asia economic and trade cooperation and reached broad consensus on jointly expanding cooperation in trade, investment, digital and green sectors.