The 2026 Hunan (Huaihua) RCEP Economic and Trade Investment Conference and "Hunan Premium Products Going Global" Foreign Trade Industry Supply-Demand Matchmaking Event. (Photo/Zhang Zhuo)

The 2026 Hunan (Huaihua) RCEP Economic and Trade Investment Conference and "Hunan Premium Products Going Global" Foreign Trade Industry Supply-Demand Matchmaking Event was held in Huaihua on May 12. 

More than 300 guests participated, including international organization representatives, domestic and foreign business associations, overseas Chinese businessmen, and professional buyers from more than 30 countries around the world. Fourteen letters of intent for procurement were signed on-site, with a total value of 211 million CNY.

The conference was themed "Deepening Regional Integration, Co-creating Sustainable Prosperity." Focusing on Huaihua's "5+10" modern industrial system, the event showcased specialty products such as luggage and leather goods, bamboo products, traditional Chinese medicine, green foods, and cultural and sports supplies, aiming to upgrade  the"Going Global with Huaihua Products" initiative from "channel-based model" to "brand- and chain-driven model," and striving to turn the region into an inland hub of reform and opening-up.

To align with Huaihua's specialty product categories, the matchmaking event specially invited representatives of international professional buyers with strong and well-defined procurement intentions. At the event, specialty products including luggage, bamboo products, traditional Chinese medicine, and green foods were displayed. Domestic and international merchants held face-to-face negotiations and conducted on-site inspections in industrial parks and factories, enabling both sides to see products up close, have in-depth discussions, and reach concrete outcomes, thereby helping more "Huaihua Quality Products" and "Hunan Premium Products" reach global markets.

Domestic and international merchants have face-to-face negotiations. (Photo/Zhang Zhuo)
 

Xiong Canxin, director of the Trade and Investment Promotion Department of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Commercial Sub-council, announced the overall demand from international buyers. He noted that the 30 international buyers came from 17 countries, covering Belt and Road Initiative partner countries such as Pakistan, Turkey, Germany, Russia, and Egypt, as well as Europe and the United States. The invited buyers had precise needs and sincere intentions for cooperation, covering Huaihua's advantageous industries, such as light maufacturing, electronics, bamboo and wood products, and agricultural and sideline food products.

Lee Dae Yong, chief representative of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) Changsha Office, stated that since the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) took effect in 2015, trade barriers between the two countries have continued to decrease while customs clearance procedures have been steadily optimized. Additionally, as both nations are RCEP members, policy dividends have accumulated, leading to steadily deepening bilateral economic and trade cooperation. With the development of the Huaihua International Land Port, Huaihua can fully leverage the global logistics network to develop into an important hub for regional opening-up and economic and trade cooperation.

International buyers and Hunan enterprises have face-to-face negotiations. (Photo/Zhang Zhuo)

  
Huaihua sits at the intersection of the New Western Land-Sea Trade Corridor and the Shanghai-Kunming High-speed Railway. It is the only freight assembly center in Hunan Province that is oriented towards ASEAN, with seven international logistics routes reaching the globe. Its transportation network covers 238 domestic and international ports and stations, enabling "access to rivers and seas within 30 hours and reach to ASEAN directly in 3 days." In Huaihua, a suitcase, from leather material to finished product, can be manufactured without leaving the industrial park in a one-stop process. The trading volume of Jingzhou Fuling (poria cocos) and Xinhuang Huangjing (polygonatum) at the primary processing and distribution markets accounts for 70% and 33% of the national total, respectively. The ISO international standards for poria cocos and caulis sinomenii further represent the "discourse power" of Chinese traditional medicine going global. Huaihua is fully committed to building a "5+10" modern industrial system, with industries such as new energy and related equipment, green mining, traditional Chinese medicine, bio-based new materials, and electronic components transforming from blueprints into reality.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.  

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: Chinanews