Exhibitors and visitors enthusiastically embraced the second Global Digital Trade Expo and expressed high hopes of utilizing the platform for fostering international cooperation and sharing the opportunities bought by China's fast-developing digital sector.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday sent a congratulatory letter to the second Global Digital Trade Expo, which runs from November 23 to 27 in Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang Province.

Booming global digital trade has become a new bright spot in international trade, Xi said in the letter.

In recent years, China has actively made alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules, established and improved its digital trade governance systems, and promoted the reform and innovation of digital trade, Xi said.

By doing that, China has been providing new opportunities for the world with its new development, Xi said.

Xi called for making full use of the expo to promote cooperation, common development and shared benefits, build digital trade into a new engine for common development, and inject new impetus into world economic growth.

The Global Digital Trade Expo (GDTE) is China's only national-level international professional exhibition with the theme of digital trade. It acts as an important platform in showcasing new technologies, products and global digital trade, facilitating discussion on standards and trends, and fostering economic and trade cooperation in the new era.

The event attracted 68 international organizations and business associations, as well as over 800 enterprises. Finland and South Africa were invited as guest countries of honor, the Global Times learned from the organizer.

Exhibitors expressed their high hopes for the expo, firmly believing that it would serve as a catalyst for international cooperation.

"This is my first time here. We are looking for partners to enter the Chinese market," Juha Suoniemi, CEO of Neurosonic, a Finnish company specialized in producing well-being technology, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"I think the Chinese, as a whole, have more advanced ecosystems, especially in mobile technology, compared with Europe. Therefore, there are many opportunities to be seen and to become visible in the digital space. I am really excited."

With an exhibition area of 100,000 square meters, the second expo has a comprehensive pavilion, two special pavilions and four digital industry pavilions. Over 15,000 professional buyers are expected to attend the event.

The Frontier Trends Pavilion has brought together 50 large-scale models from around the world for the first time. The Silk Road E-commerce Pavilion focuses on showcasing the remarkable achievements of "Silk Road E-commerce" in promoting economic and trade cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

"I would like to visit China to explore various types of technologies, such as AI systems, software and VR products. We hope to introduce these technologies to Nepal," Yadav Ambedkar Kumar, a visitor from Nepal, told the Global Times on Thursday.

In recent years, China's digital trade has been booming and has become an important pillar in the construction of a strong trading nation, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Guo Tingting said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the expo.

In 2022, China's digital services trade reached a record high of $372.7 billion, and the scale of cross-border e-commerce trade exceeded 2 trillion yuan ($282 billion) for the first time, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. 

The scale of telecommunications, computer and information services trade reached approximately $124.2 billion, accounting for nearly one-third of the total.

Technological innovation continues to gain pace as China held the top position in the world for the number of invention patents granted in such areas as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things in 2022, Guo said.

China has also set up a new data bureau and is advancing negotiations to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) to explore digital economy's growth and practical cooperation in the digital economy sector. 

Liu Liehong, head of China's national data bureau, said at a subforum on Thursday that the bureau is working on enhancing the basic data system, facilitating data circulation and transactions, and promoting data development. It is also focusing on building data infrastructure and conducting research on core technologies in the data field and strengthening data security governance.