Ding Zhongli, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, addresses the opening ceremony of the 8th China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan province, July 23, 2024. The 8th China-South Asia Expo opened on Tuesday in Kunming. [Xinhua/Hu Chao]

KUNMING -- China is willing to work with South Asian countries to build a community with a shared future, and welcomes South Asian countries to explore more cooperation opportunities and achieve more practical results through the 8th China-South Asia Expo, a senior Chinese legislator has said.

Ding Zhongli, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the national legislature, made the remarks while attending the expo's opening ceremony on Tuesday in Kunming, the capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province.

"In recent years, China and South Asian countries have worked together to uphold the spirit of openness, cooperation and inclusiveness, promote connection between the Belt and Road Initiative and the development strategies of South Asian countries, and promote the high-quality development of Belt and Road cooperation," Ding said.

"China and South Asian countries have deepened pragmatic cooperation in various fields, which has led to fruitful results," he said.

During the expo, Ding also met with political dignitaries from countries such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal, Laos and Myanmar.

The 8th China-South Asia Expo, which is running from July 23 to 28, is set to be one of the most important events for economic and trade exchange between China and South Asian nations this year, China's Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei said earlier this month. The expo was first held in Kunming in 2013, the year China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative.

Since 2013, the expo has served more than 18,000 domestic and foreign companies, promoted more than 100 billion U.S. dollars of trade, and facilitated deals for over 3,000 projects, according to official statistics.