KUNMING, June 19 – The 9th China-South Asia Expo (CSAE) kicked off in Kunming, Yunnan Province, on June 19, running through June 24. Under the theme "Unity, Collaboration, and Common Development," the expo adopts a "线下为主、线下线上融合" (offline-focused with online-offline integration) model, attracting nearly 1,000 professional purchasers from 31 countries and regions, including South Asia, RCEP member states, and regions in Europe, the Americas, and Africa. The expo's "Trade Worry-Free Platform" offers one-stop solutions for international market expansion, comprehensive trade services, and foreign trade policy consultation, providing a prime opportunity for computer networking equipment enterprises to explore the South Asian market.
Spanning 160,000 square meters across 16 pavilions, the expo features professional pavilions accounting for nearly 70% of the total area, including those for manufacturing, green energy, coffee industry, and traditional Chinese medicine. These pavilions showcase bilateral trade potential in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and modern agriculture between China and South Asian/Southeast Asian nations. The manufacturing pavilion, for instance, gathers 52 leading enterprises in low-altitude economy, new materials, rare precious metals, and intelligent manufacturing, including Fortune Global 500 companies, Chinese top 100 enterprises, and specialized and sophisticated "little giant" firms.
Nearly 40 professional economic and trade activities are scheduled during the expo, including the China-South Asia Cooperation Forum and the UN and International Public Procurement South Asian Market Demand Analysis and Project Docking Meeting, precisely matching industrial resources to meet exhibitors' and purchasers' needs. The first day is dedicated to professional visitors, with the following five days open to the public.
The "Trade Worry-Free Platform" in Pavilion 7 stands out with four core zones: comprehensive service area, cross-border live broadcast area, business negotiation area, and promotion activity area. It hosts nine key events around themes like "signing, release, cross-border, and going global," gathering industry leaders and experts to explore international cooperation opportunities.
The comprehensive service area integrates 涉外行政部门 (foreign-related administrative departments) such as Yunnan's commerce, customs, and taxation, along with local professional institutions for market expansion, trade services, cross-border logistics, and credit insurance. It offers five major services:
- Trade Consultation: Relying on the "Yunnan Enterprises Going Global Alliance," it provides market expansion services, assisting computer networking equipment enterprises in matching with high-quality exhibitions in South Asia, such as the India Communications Expo and Bangladesh IT Exhibition. For example, the platform has arranged a technical exchange between Ruijie Networks and Pakistan's PTCL Group, which plans to purchase 5,000 enterprise-level routers for nationwide base station upgrades.
- Comprehensive Trade Services: A professional team offers one-stop solutions covering customs declaration, inspection, and logistics, streamlining export procedures for enterprises.
- Cross-Border Logistics Services: Tailoring optimal logistics plans based on equipment characteristics, such as routers and switches, ensuring timely and safe delivery to South Asian markets.
- Credit Insurance Financial Services: Providing cross-border receivables insurance of up to $5 million per deal and exclusive financial products, reducing trade risks for enterprises.
A live case on June 20 showed a Huawei CloudEngine S12700E switch cleared through the "exhibit-to-export" fast track within 72 hours, exemplifying the platform's efficiency.
South Asia is in a golden period of network infrastructure development, with its enterprise networking equipment market reaching $4.7 billion in 2024, according to IDC. The Indian data center switch market alone grew by over 35%. Chinese enterprises are showcasing tailor-made solutions:
- H3C launched the Magic BH54 router, designed for 40℃ environments and priced 20% lower than competitors, securing a 20,000-unit order from Sri Lanka Telecom.
- Star-River Ruijie's Wi-Fi 6 wireless APs, certified by India's BIS, adapt to local unstable power grids and plan to sign five regional distributors at the expo.
- Inspur's AI server NF5468M6 attracted a research team from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, for cooperation on the country's first AI supercomputing center.
"Huawei has set up a R&D center in India and plans to invest $120 million in a localized supply chain over three years, leveraging RCEP tariff preferences," said Li Peng, President of H3C's International Business.
The expo's cross-border live broadcast zone hosts eight daily sessions in Hindi and Bengali. The first live stream on June 19, featuring Huawei's 5G CPE Pro 3 demonstration, attracted over 100,000 South Asian viewers, boosting backend inquiries by 300%.
At the "South Asian Digital Economy Cooperation Forum," the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology released a white paper recommending enterprises focus on government projects like India's "National Fiber Network Plan" and Pakistan's "Digital Pakistan." Twelve cooperation projects worth $370 million were signed on site, with Yunnan local enterprises accounting for 35%.
"Going forward, we will establish a South Asian market demand database to release purchasing lists regularly, promoting more Chinese enterprises' participation in South Asia's digital infrastructure wave," said Li Chengyang, Director of Yunnan's Department of Commerce.
