Meet the AI future at the Digital Trade Expo! This grand event will be held in Hangzhou on September 23.

The State Council Information Office held a press conference at 3 p.m. on Monday, September 7, 2026, inviting Yan Dong, Vice Minister of Commerce, Hu Wei, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province, and Du Xuliang, Mayor of Hangzhou, to introduce the relevant situation of the 5th Global Digital Trade Expo and take questions from journalists.

Press Conference Transcript

Jia Huili, Deputy Director-General of the Press Bureau and Spokesperson of the State Council Information Office

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to the press conference of the State Council Information Office. The 5th Global Digital Trade Expo will be held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang in the near future. Today we have the honor to invite Mr. Yan Dong, Vice Minister of Commerce, Mr. Hu Wei, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province, and Mr. Du Xuliang, Mayor of Hangzhou, to introduce the relevant situation to you and answer the questions you care about. Also present at today's press conference is Mr. Wang Pengfei, Head of the E-commerce and Informatization Department of the Ministry of Commerce.

Now I will give the floor to Mr. Yan Dong for his introduction first.

Yan Dong, Vice Minister of Commerce

Yan Dong:

Dear friends from the media, good afternoon! Now I would like to introduce the relevant situation of the 5th Global Digital Trade Expo to you.

In recent years, digital trade has become an important force driving world economic growth. China has always been a practitioner and promoter of the reform, innovation and development of digital trade. It has issued the Opinions on the Reform, Innovation and Development of Digital Trade, building the "four pillars and eight beams" for high-quality development; it has built national digital trade demonstration zones to promote the agglomeration development of digital trade; it has held the Digital Trade Expo every year to build a public service platform of "jointly discussing cooperation, promoting development and sharing achievements". According to the data of the World Trade Organization, from 2016 to 2025, the average annual growth rate of China's total import and export of digitally delivered services reached 11.2%, 1.8 percentage points higher than the global average.

The Digital Trade Expo is the only national-level, international and professional exhibition themed on digital trade in China. It has cumulatively attracted more than 5,000 Chinese and foreign enterprises, 87,000 professional merchants and 627,000 visitors, and launched more than 1,200 debut products, shows and exhibitions. The 5th Digital Trade Expo will be held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province from September 23 to 27. This edition of the expo mainly has the following three characteristics:

First, further highlight the foundation of opening-up and cooperation. As of now, the total exhibition area is 170,000 square meters, with international exhibitors accounting for more than 20%. Malaysia and Hungary serve as guest countries of honor, and the number of overseas exhibition groups has exceeded the total of previous editions. Representatives from 121 countries and regions and 29 international organizations have confirmed their attendance, and they will carry out exchanges and consultations on topics such as Silk Road e-commerce, cross-border data flow and green trade, which will inject new impetus into building an open economy and promoting inclusive and universal economic globalization.

Second, further present the bright feature of artificial intelligence. This edition of the expo takes "Meet the AI Future at the Digital Trade Expo" as its theme, promoting integration through exhibitions. Artificial intelligence exhibitors account for more than one third of all exhibitors. It has taken the lead in setting up a special Token zone, and the pilot bases for artificial intelligence applications will make a collective appearance, fully presenting the whole-chain innovation ecosystem of general models, industry applications and intelligent terminals. Promoting innovation through competitions, it will hold events including the World Artificial Intelligence Open Source Competition, Embodied Intelligence Application Challenge, and Global Brain-Computer Interface Innovation Competition in the same period to accelerate the implementation of artificial intelligence technologies.

Third, further refine the quality of digital trade. This edition of the expo closely focuses on the connotation of digital trade. The activities are more wonderful, with a series of brand activities such as "Silk Road E-commerce Day", "BRICS Dialogue" and "Digital Trade Africa Day" held, so as to deepen the collaborative linkage between the Digital Trade Expo and other events including the Yunqi Conference and West Lake Sword Forum. The achievements are more fruitful, with a series of reports such as the China Digital Trade Development Report 2026 and the "Silk Road E-commerce" Cooperation and Development Report 2026 released to promote the integration of industry, university, research and application. The cooperation is also more pragmatic, with a series of docking activities carried out with the National Guidance Fund for Innovative Development of Trade in Services and social venture capital to leverage multiple capitals to empower industrial innovation and development.

I will stop here for my introduction. Thank you all!

Hu Wei, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province

Hu Wei:

Dear friends from the media, good afternoon! Thank you for your concern and support for the Global Digital Trade Expo.

The Digital Trade Expo is a major task assigned to Zhejiang by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council. We have earnestly implemented the spirit of President Xi Jinping's important congratulatory letter, and all preparation work is being accelerated in a tight and orderly manner. This year's Digital Trade Expo is the 5th edition, and it also falls on the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan. Holding this year's Digital Trade Expo well has a special timing and great significance. Vice Minister Yan Dong just introduced the relevant situation of the Digital Trade Expo, and here I would like to add four more characteristics.

The first characteristic is that the feature of artificial intelligence is more distinct. Artificial intelligence is opening up a brand new era. "Artificial intelligence +" means reshaping, and "+ artificial intelligence" means empowerment. Zhejiang is embracing artificial intelligence with greater efforts, making artificial intelligence the most distinctive identifier and the most core support, and promoting the all-round development of building an innovative Zhejiang. Therefore, we take artificial intelligence as the main content of this edition of the Digital Trade Expo, and a large number of new technologies, new products and new scenarios will make a collective appearance then. For example, we have created the first AI Future Exhibition Zone with the theme of Token, which displays in one stop according to the whole industrial chain logic of "computing power base, model service and application scenarios". It not only includes computing power bases such as intelligent computing chips and quantum computing, but also model services such as mainstream domestic large models, as well as application scenarios such as "AI + foreign trade" and "AI + medical care". In addition, "AI + space" is also very worth looking forward to.

The second characteristic is that the linkage between industry and trade is more efficient. This edition of the Digital Trade Expo has attracted nearly 40,000 professional merchants to register for the event, including more than 12,000 international merchants. The pre-raised international procurement orders have reached 977 million US dollars, and the total amount of domestic and foreign orders is 19.5 billion yuan. We have also broken the 5-day exhibition period limit, linked cross-border e-commerce platforms online and key professional markets offline, and built a full-cycle trade docking channel before and after the exhibition. We will iteratively upgrade investment and trade promotion activities to promote the two-way force of trade and investment.

The third characteristic is that international cooperation is more pragmatic. A series of landmark and long-term international cooperation carriers will be launched during the exhibition. For example, the China Headquarters of the Arab Digital Economy Alliance will be inaugurated, and the China-Africa Artificial Intelligence Talent Cooperation Program will be launched. For the first time, we have jointly compiled the flagship report Global Digital Trade Development Report 2026 with five authoritative institutions including the World Trade Organization, the International Trade Center, the World Economic Forum, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which will be released as an official United Nations publication.

The fourth characteristic is that multi-dimensional integration is more three-dimensional. Relying on the advantages of Jiaxing Global Air Logistics Hub and the multi-modal transport of "road, railway, water and air", we will hold the international logistics supply chain themed event for the first time. In the same period, 7 digital technology application competitions will be held in linkage, gathering more than 10,000 teams to compete on the same field. We have also set up three "100s" — 100 AI scenarios, 100 characteristic high-quality products, and 100 consumer experience points, to create a "Digital Carnival" integrating "exhibition, conference, competition and shopping". This year's Digital Trade Expo coincides with the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, so I would like to warmly invite and welcome all of you present and people from all walks of life to come to Hangzhou, Zhejiang to attend the Digital Trade Expo and celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

That's all for my remarks. Thank you!

Du Xuliang, Mayor of Hangzhou

Du Xuliang:

Dear friends from the media, good afternoon. In 15 days, the 5th Global Digital Trade Expo will be grandly opened in Hangzhou. Hangzhou will resolutely shoulder the responsibility of the host city and fully present a wonderful digital trade event. It is mainly reflected in four aspects.

First, the theme of artificial intelligence is more prominent. Focusing on the annual theme of "Meet the AI Future at the Digital Trade Expo", we will focus on five major digital trade tracks and set up eight exhibition zones. The world's four major digital trade platforms of Alibaba, Google, Amazon and Meta will gather for the first time, more than 200 artificial intelligence large models including Tongyi Qianwen and Deepseek will make a collective appearance, 53 new products, 20 new technologies and 22 new platforms will be released intensively, and 117 computing power enterprises, 186 data enterprises, 236 algorithm enterprises and 367 intelligent terminal enterprises will appear together, fully presenting the new impetus of digital trade development in the "AI era".

Second, trade matching is more efficient. As of now, we have reached cooperation with 136 overseas chambers of commerce and associations, collected procurement demands globally, and the pre-raised procurement orders have increased by 47% over the same period last year. More than 1,300 commercial trade matching activities will be organized on site, and the "AI Assistant" will be launched for the first time to provide intelligent services such as business opportunity matching across the whole venue. After the event, we will also upgrade the "Digital Trade Online" platform, build a "cloud negotiation room", provide accurate matching services for the supply and demand of enterprises, and create a "never-ending Digital Trade Expo".

Third, the on-site experience is richer. We will hold the Embodied Intelligence Challenge for the first time, with more than 100 teams competing in more than 10 sub-events such as speed racing, running and tug-of-war. We will realize exhibition linkage, and realize mutual recognition of tickets and direct mutual visits with five major exhibitions including the Yunqi Conference. We will further optimize the linkage of exhibition and sales, and set up an 800-meter long gallery of high-quality digital trade products for the first time on site, where thousands of new digital trade products will be exhibited and sold intensively, so that friends at home and abroad can get pleasant surprises, have a satisfactory visit and enjoy affordable shopping.

Fourth, urban services are more considerate. The entry procedures will be more convenient. We have iterated the AI Hangzhou comprehensive foreign-related service platform, providing digital services such as "one-stop handling" for entry customs clearance and "one-card access" for internet communication. Consumption is more convenient. We will link key business districts, set up more than 100 "immediate purchase and immediate refund" tax refund points for departure, so that you can get tax refund with one click on your mobile phone after on-site shopping. Visiting the exhibition will also be more convenient. We will open the "Digital Trade TV" for the first time, and link the new media matrix to broadcast the whole event live, so that audiences inside and outside the venue can more easily enjoy the wonderful digital trade event.

Dear friends, the digital trade event coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the trend of technological innovation meets the grand tide of the Qiantang River. We sincerely invite friends from all walks of life at home and abroad to come to Hangzhou and join this appointment of digital trade! Thank you.

Q&A Session

Question from journalist of China Central Television, CMG

In recent years, digital trade has developed vigorously, and has become a new trend of trade development and a new growth point of the economy. Please introduce the situation of China's digital trade in 2025. Thank you.

Yan Dong:

Thank you for the question from the CCTV journalist. I will answer this question. With the wide application of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and blockchain, China's digital trade has developed rapidly, making important contributions to the high-quality development of foreign