Jiangsu has more than 30 enterprises participating in the third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, which opened in Changsha City, Hunan Province on June 29.

The expo has attracted 1,500 exhibitors with 1,590 products from 29 countries on display as well as a series of economic and trade activities.

Established in 2013, Suzhou Aolinte Investment Co Ltd set up a textile and dyeing company in Ethiopia in the same year, with an average annual output value of more than $80 million in recent years. The company plans to further extend its industrial chain in Africa and open new businesses. It has already obtained garment orders worth more than 90 million yuan from the country¡¯s Ministry of Defense.

"Africa features opportunities, large market and attractive profit margin. We have leveraged our development experience in China to discover and make use of opportunities for growth in the continent," said Li Wei, chairman of the Suzhou company.

For Wanpeng International in Zhangjiagang City, Africa has superior resources, huge demographic dividend, accelerated urbanization, and booming manufacturing industry, while Jiangsu has the advantages of capital, technology and development experience. Therefore, cooperation between the two sides can significantly improve the efficiency of resource allocation.
Noting the bright prospects ahead, Wanpeng¡¯s chairman Zhang Leihua said the company¡¯s business in Africa has transformed from timber trade and logging to tree farm contracting since entering the continent in 1999. The company has been exploring opportunities in the African market as its business scope also includes cement and steel trade.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Last year, the province¡¯s imports and exports volume with Africa reached $21.85 billion, an increase of 6.9% year-on-year.

By the end of April this year, African countries had made investment into 2,118 enterprises in Jiangsu, with a cumulative actual investment of $6.01 billion.

For Jiangsu, Africa is also its second largest market for outsourcing engineering projects. The province¡¯s exhibitors at this expo also mainly focus on foreign investment and outsourcing projects.

As of the end of April this year, Jiangsu had invested in 523 projects in Africa, with an agreed investment of $6.01 billion, accounting for 5.8% of the province¡¯s total.