Kazakhstan's food producers who have attended the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in previous years keenly hope that the upcoming edition will bring them new opportunities from the ever-expanding Chinese market.
Global Beverages, a Kazakh manufacturer of soft and alcoholic beverages, will take part in the expo for the second time.
Dmitry Zhukov, the company's export manager, said that a kind of mineral water with a lightweight composition will be presented at the 4th CIIE and Chinese consumers will also have an opportunity to taste the Kazakh vodka, cognac, whiskey and gin.
"We have specially designed packagings for the Chinese market. We really hope that the expo will not be just a show, but facilitate the conclusion of contracts and entry into the Chinese market. This will give us a big boost to growth," Dmitry Zhukov told Xinhua.
The Kazakh Meat Processing and Service company, a major beef exporter to China with a fattening base for 3,000 head of cows, will attend the upcoming CIIE virtually.
"Our company has participated in the CIIE since 2019. At the CIIE of that year, we signed a contract of 50 million U.S. dollars and exported about 2,500 tons of meat in six months," said Bakhytzhan Abdrasilov, founder of the company.
Abdrasilov said his company, one of the four meat firms that received a permit for export to China, hopes to ink new contracts with Chinese partners.
Araltuz, a century-old salt production company in Kazakhstan, will attend the CIIE for the fourth time. "This reaffirms our interest in entering the Chinese market," Sales Director Evgeny Korol told Xinhua.
Korol said the company will take part in the exhibition online but has sent samples to Shanghai.
"The package of salt is adapted to the Chinese market by adding Chinese characters," he said.
"I attended the first CIIE personally. The exhibition was really grand and covered almost all industries and types of products worldwide," Korol said, recalling his first participation in the event in 2018.
"We shipped a small batch of salt to China in two wagons this year, so that Chinese distributors can get acquainted with the products," he added.
A total of 27 Kazakh enterprises will attend the 4th CIIE, which will be held in China's Shanghai on Nov. 5-10.