KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian businesses and entrepreneurs got a taste of the various offerings of China's Shaanxi province with the launch of the China-Malaysia Belt and Road Shaanxi Trade Expo 2019 on Monday.

The expo, which will be held from Nov 25 to 27, aims at setting up a platform for cooperation and exchange between Malaysia and Shaanxi province of China, providing opportunities for entrepreneurs of both sides to cooperate.

Participants will get to exchange valuable business contacts while displaying the characteristic commodities of Shaanxi and Malaysia, with 92 booths set up for this year's expo, covering a range of products from technology, electronics and especially food.

It will run concurrently at the same location with the Malaysia Private Label Expo 2019 (MaPLE 2019), which aims to promote private label offerings including manufactured goods and services with 228 booths showcasing a variety of products.

It is expected to attract a wide range of trade visitors, mainly retail and consumer buyers, chain stores and bulk purchasers, cooperative clients, service providers as well as manufacturing companies keen to widen their product sales.

In his speech, Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz, deputy chief executive officer of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) said trade expos are important to help Malaysian businesses navigate the Chinese consumer landscape.

"While it is true that China offers a huge potential market for Malaysian goods and services, understanding where these opportunities lie and how to access them can be extremely challenging.

"Through the active initiatives taken by enterprises of both countries and the excellent G2G and B2B relationship between both countries, I believe that there are various platforms available to further enhance the excellent bilateral trade and investment relationship between Malaysia and China, such as MaPLE 2019," he said.

Malaysian government's special envoy to China, Tan Kok Wai recounted how both nations had peacefully coexisted as trading partners for centuries with this relationship continuing into the present day.

Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian said the exchange and cooperation of the expo, held after the recently concluded China International Import Expo (CIIE) would strengthen the bonds of the business communities of both countries.

"At the recently-concluded 2nd China International Import Expo, Malaysia came to Shanghai as a host country and participated in the expo, it has attracted many Chinese merchants. The on spot orders collected by the exhibitors amounted to 50 million ringgit ($11.9 million)."

"Today, Shaanxi province has once again come to Malaysia to hold the trade expo. This fully demonstrates the close relationship in mutual promotion and mutual progress between the two countries, which will surely bring greater benefits to both sides," Bai said.