On November 5, the official opening of the National stand of Ukraine took place at the China International Import Expo 2018 (CIIE) in Shanghai which will last through November 5-10. Ukraine has for the first time presented a National stand, trade, investment and tourism potential at the global scale event.

Ukraine's participation in CIIE 2018 was supported by the EBRD within the EU4Business initiative of the European Union, which helps Ukrainian companies to enter new markets.

At the opening, First Vice Prime Minister/ Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv welcomed the real steps of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to diversify markets and ensure openness. In this he sees great potential for deepening economic cooperation between the two countries. Especially, given that Ukraine is part of the initiative to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the transit hub between Europe and Asia.

"Trade relations between Ukraine and the PRC are getting stronger year by year. Our trade turnover is increasing, but the prospects are even bigger. Therefore, such a presentation of the National stand of Ukraine at a large-scale import exhibition in China is viewed as of paramount importance. Ukraine is represented by more than 300 leading enterprises of various industries, ranging from investment activities, food and processing industry, industrialization, machine building, creative industries, IT and innovation, tourism and education, as well as investors, customers and visitors. In each of the industries represented, a Chinese investor or buyer will have a chance to see modern technology creative design developed by Ukrainians", said Stepan Kubiv.

According to Claudio Viezzoli, Managing Director for SME Finance at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, support and development of small and medium-sized businesses is one of the priorities for the EBRD: "We, along with our reliable EU partner, understand very clearly the importance of SMEs for the development of any country. In 2016, we signed an agreement with the EU on providing even more financial and consulting support to business in Ukraine under the EU4Business initiative. Among other things, the agreement provides for access to international markets, which, of course, has a huge impact on the development of this sector. Recently, we have presented the Export brand of the country together with the European Union, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Export Promotion Office, which we show off at this important event. And I believe that this is already a huge achievement and result of the fruitful co-ordinated work of all those involved in this process."

According to the head of the Export Promotion Office Mariana Kaganjak, there are a lot of companies in Ukraine standing ready to cooperate with Chinese and international partners: "Ukraine's participation in this exhibition and the opportunities we have created for this altogether are unprecedented. For the first time, all Ukrainian products are presented under a single Export brand for the event of this scale. It is crucial to jointly promote the country, therefore, after the exhibition, more people in the world will identify Ukrainian products under this brand. For the first time, the stand combines modern interactive and creative trends, eco-friendly materials, VR elements, a unique web platform, an online directory of exporters, an interactive investment and tourist map of Ukraine, creative shows, fashion shows - all necessary to honourably represent the country and national creative and innovative products with export potential", she noted.

It should be noted, in 2017, trade turnover between Ukraine and China increased by 17.9% and amounted to USD 7.69 billion, exports of Ukrainian goods to the PRC amounted to USD 2.04 billion and grew by 11.3%. In January-August 2018, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to USD 5.8 billion. The potential for trade between the two countries makes up over USD 10 billion.