On 11 June 2016, the Welcoming Ceremony of the 4th China-South Asia Expo and the 24th Session of the Kunming Import and Export Fair was held in Kunming International Exhibition Centre in Yunnan. Over 500 people attended the event. The Vice-Minister of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Commerce, leaders of Yunnan Province, H.E. Mr. Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, Special Envoy of Maldives President, Speaker of People’s Majlis, H.E. Mr. Trinh Dinh Dung, Deputy Prime Minister of Viet Nam, H.E. Mr. Nanda Bahadur Pun, Vice President of Nepal, H.E. Mr. Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia, H.E. Mr. Sonexay Siphandone, Deputy Prime Minister of Laos, H. E. Mr. Arjun Banadur Thapa, Secretary-General of SAARC, as well as government officials and diplomatic representatives from Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, heads of international organizations, financial institutions, and business community representatives attended the ceremony. H. E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) attended the event and interacted with guests.
Mr. Chen Hao, Governor of Yunnan Province, extended his warm welcome to the guests. He said that Yunnan was the major player of BCIM Economic Corridor and China-Indochina Peninsular Economic Corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative. In recent years, Yunnan enhanced its cooperation with South Asian and ASEAN countries in agriculture, tourism, culture, health, financial and infrastructure sector. It had already become a gateway for businesspeople to enter China and seek business opportunities. China-South Asia Expo was an important platform for multilateral communication, economic cooperation and cultural exchange among China, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. It had made contributions to help connect the Belt and Road initiative with initiatives of South Asian and ASEAN countries, promoting cultural integration and building regional community. With supports from different countries, this year's Expo would be more colourful and yield great results.