STORY: CIFIT wins confidence of investors from countries newly invited to join BRICS
DATELINE: Sept. 11, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:18
LOCATION: XIAMEN, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of CIFIT
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): SALEH ALI KHABTI, Deputy Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Persian): HOJJATOLLAH ABDOLMALEKI, Secretary of Supreme Council of Free Trade-Industrial and Special Economic Zones, Iran

STORYLINE:

The ongoing 23rd China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) has gathered more than 1,000 organizations and enterprises in Xiamen, east China's Fujian Province.

This year's CIFIT has a distinct focus on the digital economy, intelligent manufacturing, green and low-carbon development, as well as rural revitalization. 

Investors from countries newly invited to join the BRICS group such as Saudi Arabia and Iran are among those seeking business opportunities at the fair.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): SALEH ALI KHABTI, Deputy Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia
"The size of Saudi (Arabia)'s companies investment in China is the testimony to this improvement in the business environment. We should see more and more investment coming from Saudi Arabia. We're going through a massive growth story from infrastructure to digital infrastructure, to digital gaming, to also deep to the chemical value chain, to the mining sector, and the industrial whether it's aerospace, automotive, or shipbuilding.
The China story gives a lot of lessons to learn, and a lot of movements to follow in some areas. So the options are infinite for the Chinese companies, but also joint development research, biotech, all of those, the doors are open for us and we have massive stretch targets that the Chinese companies can find win-win opportunities."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Persian): HOJJATOLLAH ABDOLMALEKI, Secretary of Supreme Council of Free Trade-Industrial and Special Economic Zones, Iran
"We have a lot of cooperation and investment opportunities at this exhibition. We offered information to relevant investors.
Iran and China have very broad areas of cooperation. China is one of the largest energy consumers in the world, while Iran has a lot of oil and gas, and is one of the biggest energy producers.
In other fields, such as agriculture, automobiles, information, high-tech, etc., we also have a lot of room for cooperation with China.
We welcome more people to invest in Iran.
CIFIT has been held for 23 years and we think it is a very successful fair. We believe it's a great platform that gives us a lot of opportunities."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Xiamen, China.
(XHTV)