The 18th Europe-China Business & Technology Cooperation Fair opens in Chengdu, Sichuan province, Nov. 20, 2025. [Photo courtesy of China Chamber of International Commerce]

The 18th Europe-China Business & Technology Cooperation Fair opened in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province, on Nov. 20, bringing together more than 600 participants from over 20 countries. Government officials, diplomats, business association leaders, scholars and representatives of leading companies, including China Three Gorges Corporation, CATL, BGI Group, AstraZeneca and Bayer, attended the event.

Co-hosted by the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCIC) and the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, the fair aims to deepen practical cooperation between China and the European Union in areas such as investment, trade and technological innovation. Speakers at the opening ceremony included Liu Jiannan, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT); Chen Zhiyong, vice mayor of Chengdu; Raquel Ramirez Alexander, vice president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China; and Dario Mehelin, the Croatian ambassador to China. Cai Run, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, delivered a video address.

In his speech at the event, Liu Jiannan said that the CCPIT and the CCIC will strengthen their role in connecting government and business communities and improving supply-and-demand linkages. He noted that the two organizations will support Chinese and European enterprises in identifying new cooperation growth drivers in investment, trade, sci-tech innovation and the digital economy, while contributing to the stability and resilience of industrial and supply chains and upholding the global free-trade system.

Running from Nov. 19 to 21 under the theme "Mutual Trust and Connectivity, Shared Success and Prosperity," this year's fair featured a plenary session, a China-EU chambers roundtable, five parallel industry matchmaking events covering energy and environmental protection, biomedicine, digital culture and creativity, agri-food and intelligent robotics, as well as visits to industrial parks and enterprises.

A key highlight of the event was the China-EU B2B matchmaking session, where 204 companies from 16 countries held 257 one-on-one meetings on fields such as new energy, artificial intelligence and intelligent manufacturing. A total of 166 cooperation intentions were established.

Launched in 2002 by the European Commission, the fair has become one of the largest and most influential platforms for China-EU investment, trade and technological cooperation. It has attracted more than 12,000 companies over the years, facilitated over 29,000 matchmaking meetings, and helped conclude more than 3,200 intended cooperation agreements.