The 3rd Silk Road International Food Exhibition Fair and the 6th Silk Road International Catering Expo came to a close on May 29, with projects worth 13.23 billion yuan ($2 billion) agreed.

The event was held from May 26 to 29, at the Xinjiang International Convention & Exhibition Center, in Urumqi city of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

At the signing ceremony held on May 27, 18 domestic and foreign companies signed deals, of which 11 were cooperation projects and three were international strategic partnership agreements, involving livestock meat, vegetables and fruits, drinks, and snack foods.

The signing ceremony of the 3rd Silk Road International Food Exhibition Fair and the 6th Silk Road International Catering Expo on May 27 at the Xinjiang International Convention & Exhibition Center. [Photo/ uhdz.gov.cn]

The largest project is Pinko Food Co’s ten year deal to import Iberian meat from a Spanish company, for 12 billion yuan.

The resulting Iberian Meat Presentation was launched on May 28 when Hao Weicheng, president of Pinko, signed contracts with the company’s agents across China. The Xinjiang agent located at the Urumqi State High-tech Zone plans to open four or five shops in the city.

The zone was awarded the exhibition’s “best organization” and “best decoration” prizes. According to Gou Xiaofang, deputy head of the zone’s commerce bureau, it has stressed recruitment of exhibitors and decoration this year by attracting well-known featured local food and catering organizations, markets, blocks and enterprises. The 120 booths assigned to the zone were quickly booked by 43 companies.

Pinko Food Co and a Spanish company sign a contract for import of Iberian meat, at the signing ceremony on May 27. [Photo/ uhdz.gov.cn]

The zone had three food courts at the event included in the exhibition’s list of the “16 most characteristic food streets”: Tianjinlu No.1 Street, Shangpinhui food street and the food court of Youhao Shopping Mall in Changchun Road.

Undertaken by the Urumqi government and Xinjiang’s commerce department, the event was themed “communication, trade and harmony” and made up of exhibitions, meetings, competitions and performances.

Pinko President Hao Weicheng sign contracts with his company’s Xinjiang’s agent at the Iberian Meat Presentation on May 28. [Photo/ uhdz.gov.cn]

In all 1,200 enterprises from 44 countries and regions, including Russia, France, Switzerland, Italy, Kazakhstan, United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan, used the 2,100 booths in the 60,000-square-meter hall to display over 10,000 exhibits.

The hall was divided into four sections - food, catering, international brands, and enterprise services -- and 15 areas, such as international food, Naan culture, Chinese food, and Muslim food.

Edited by Peter Nordlinger