KUNMING, July 28 -- The eighth China-South Asia Expo concluded Sunday, with domestic and foreign trade contracts worth a total value of over 8 billion yuan (about 1.12 billion U.S. dollars) signed, according to the organizers.

During the event held in Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, the cumulative online and offline sales exceeded 500 million yuan.

The six-day event featured 15 exhibition halls with themes including architecture technology, manufacturing, green energy and modern agriculture.

This year's expo saw participation from 82 countries, regions, and international organizations, with more than 2,000 exhibiting companies. Nearly half of these were overseas companies, covering all countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

The expo was first held in Kunming in 2013, the same year China put forward the Belt and Road Initiative. Since its inception, the expo has served more than 18,000 domestic and foreign companies, promoted trade of more than 100 billion U.S. dollars, and facilitated the signing of over 3,000 projects.

Jointly organized by the Ministry of Commerce and the Yunnan provincial government, the expo is one of the most important events of the year for economic and trade exchanges between China and South Asian countries.

Official data shows that trade volume between China and South Asian countries reached nearly 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, twice the amount recorded in 2013.