The 6th China (Quanzhou) Maritime Silk Road International Brand Expo kicked off on Oct 30 at the China Shishi Food Market in Shishi, a county-level city of Quanzhou, East China's Fujian province, attracting the participation of 418 companies and their agents from 31 countries and regions from around the world.

A rich variety of foods from Shishi go on display at the 6th China (Quanzhou) Maritime Silk Road International Brand Expo. [Photo/VCG]

The three-day event -- which finished on Nov 1 -- was committed to helping brands and products from all over the world find Chinese buyers, as well as to helping domestic food companies to expand in overseas markets.

With an exhibition area of 26,000 square meters and 1,650 international-standard stalls, the expo included the Quanzhou pavilion, a domestic pavilion, an overseas pavilion and a wine pavilion.

Companies market products through livestreaming at the 6th China (Quanzhou) Maritime Silk Road International Brand Expo. [Photo/VCG]

The Quanzhou pavilion set up a Maritime Silk Road corridor experience area and an themed video exhibition area, using multimedia displays to showcase general business conditions in Quanzhou to guests.

Affected by the international novel coronavirus epidemic, in order to boost opportunities and facilitate the participation of overseas traders, the expo invited a group of domestic agents to assist foreign products in the exhibition, displaying thousands of products such as special foods from countries and regions along the Maritime Silk Road.

The event's guest of honor, Malaysia, organized eight high-quality corporate representatives to participate and they exhibited leading products, such as coffee and snacks from the country.

Visitors check out products in the overseas exhibition area, at the 6th China (Quanzhou) Maritime Silk Road International Brand Expo. [Photo/VCG]

In 2020, in response to COVID-19, Shishi actively adapted to the new changes in international trade and helped promote the recovery of foreign trade, relying on a market procurement trade mode pilot zone and pre-packaged food export pilot zone.

From January to September this year, Shishi’s exports hit 27.48 billion yuan ($4.11 billion), an increase of 22.3 percent year-on-year, of which exports to countries and regions along the Maritime Silk Road amounted to 14.6 billion yuan, an increase of 7 percent.