(ECNS) – The 2025 World Yiwu Entrepreneurs Conference kicked off in east China's Zhejiang Province on Tuesday, drawing over 450 participants from around the globe.
The event brought together both long-standing partners and new entrepreneurs, aiming to strengthen international cooperation and explore new opportunities in global trade.
Speaking at the conference, Cai Huihuang, an overseas Chinese entrepreneur from the Philippines, highlighted the unique role of overseas Chinese in bridging markets.
"We, as overseas Chinese entrepreneurs, will leverage our dual advantage of local familiarity and global vision to continuously help Yiwu businesses navigate uncertainties in international trade and jointly build a more resilient global supply chain," he said.
Among the international attendees was Kasymov, a businessman from Kyrgyzstan who referred to himself as a "New Yiwu Citizen."
"Since last year, our interaction with the Yiwu market has become frequent. I often visit the city and have grown familiar with it," he said.
He described Yiwu as a crucial platform linking Central Asia with China's manufacturing strength, creating growing opportunities for win-win cooperation.
A key example of such collaboration is the launch of the Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe (YXE) China-Europe Railway Express hub in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, earlier this April.
The new facility serves as a cargo consolidation and distribution center as well as an international transit hub for Central Asia. Regular freight trains now link Tashkent with major Chinese cities including Beijing, Chengdu, and Yiwu, strengthening regional connectivity through a diversified and multidimensional logistics network.
Renowned as the world's largest wholesale market for small commodities, Yiwu now connects more than 2.1 million Chinese businesses with partners in over 230 countries and regions.
During the conference, 45 investment agreements were signed, totaling 73.217 billion yuan (approximately $10.1 billion). The deals span a variety of sectors such as new energy and materials, consumer innovation, healthcare, modern logistics, livestream e-commerce, and bonded imports.
In addition, Yiwu is accelerating the development of a digital trade model powered by artificial intelligence. The initiative aims to apply AI technology in areas including cross-border marketing and supply chain management, with the goal of driving inclusive innovation in the global small commodities market.
(By Zhao Li)
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