Azernews.Az

By Naila Huseynli

Azerbaijan will present logistics, tourism and investment potential in the framework of the forthcoming Chinese international import exhibition, which will be held in Shanghai in November 2018.

The international import exhibition will feature products under the Made in Azerbaijan brand, trade representative of Azerbaijan in China Teymur Nadiroglu said.

He noted that this year is announced as a year of import in China, which means that the country is widely opening its gates for import of goods from around the world.

"Therefore, at the moment, our task is to carefully prepare for the first Chinese international import exhibition, which will be held this fall, in one of the largest cities in China," he said, adding that he sees this event as one of the most important ones not only in China, but throughout the world.

"Azerbaijan will present its products at this exhibition, and we will not only demonstrate the quality of our products, but also the logistics, tourism and investment potential of our country," Nadiroglu said.

He also added that this event falls on the day of opening of the wine house in Shanghai. This decision was made because the exhibition will bring together 150,000 buyers from China and other countries to sign contracts and purchase goods, according to Nadiroglu.

The trade representative mentioned that meetings were held with the Chinese public and private companies in order to prepare for the upcoming exhibition. At the same time, they take advantage of the opportunity to get acquainted with the products of Azerbaijani enterprises. Also, in the next five years China plans to import goods worth more than 10 trillion dollars, he noted.

Furthermore, Nadiroglu stated that at present, various electronic platforms are actively working and developing in China, through which Azerbaijani producers can directly sell their goods to Chinese consumers at retail.

"Such retail e-commerce is in high demand today in China and around the world. This type of trade is developing rapidly, and now we are also closely engaged in the study of this platform, as the demand for this type of trade is also attractive for Azerbaijan," the trade representative said.

In 2017, the Chinese spent more than $1 trillion on the purchase of various goods online.

The trade turnover with China amounted to almost $1.3 billion last year, which is 33 percent more than in 2016. Exports have increased by 63.75 percent to $443.8 million, and imports by 21.4 percent to $854.5 million over the year, in accordance with the data of the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee. Meanwhile, the trade turnover between the two countries totaled $616,402 million in the first half of 2018.

The chemical products, fuel, plastics and products made of it were the main goods exported from Azerbaijan to China last year

Over the past years, electrical devices, equipment and its spare parts, vehicles and spare parts, clothing and accessories, ceramic products, household items were imported from China to Azerbaijan.

More than 50 agreements have been signed between Azerbaijan and China so far, while over 20 Chinese enterprises operate in Azerbaijan in oil and gas, construction, aviation, logistics and other fields. Moreover, the two countries have great potential in energy, transport, high technology, military and tourism spheres.

China is a huge opportunity and a priority market for Azerbaijan. In May 2016, Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) opened a representative office in China to support and encourage relations between the two countries’ businessmen, as well as to promote the export of Azerbaijani goods to the Chinese market and attract China’s leading investment funds to the Azerbaijani economy.

—

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz