How significant is Xi’s trip to Cambodia?
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Hello and welcome to World Today, I'm Zhao Ying. Coming up, Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a two-day visit to Cambodia. How significant is the trip? California has become the first US state to sue Donald Trump over tariffs. What could come next?

The 137th China Import and Export Fair is underway in Guangzhou. How is it promoting global trade at a time when multilateralism is under threat? Chinese President Xi Jinping has met Cambodian King Narendra Ciharmani during a state visit. He arrived in the kingdom on Thursday and held bilateral ties as an example for new international relations.

He said the two countries achieved that by working together as a community with a shared future and with cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. In a written speech upon arriving in Cambodia, President Xi said bilateral ties have weathered the changing international landscape and remain rock solid. He stressed that China regards Cambodia as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy and looks forward to jointly deepening cooperation and strategic coordination.

In a signed article before his arrival, President Xi called for efforts to promote the steady development of a China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era. For more, we are joined by Rongyin, Senior Research Fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, and Anurthangan, Senior Fellow at Taihe Institute.

I know. Let me start with you. What do you make of the significance of President Xi's visit to Cambodia? Well, it's important. I mean, Cambodia has been a long term ally of China's. Cambodian has been a faithful partner, actually backing China on a number of issues, one relating to the South China Seas. And it's, you know, their leaders have said this is a most consequential relationship.

So going forward, Xi Jinping has been very careful to talk about each country. I mean, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, in particular to their different aspects in relations to China. Now, Cambodia is poor. It has Thailand and Vietnam, which are prospering very close to it, but it needs to get upgraded to enjoy the same kind of prosperity. And a lot of that has to do

with having goods that can be sent to China and also climbing the technological chain so that they can kind of offer the kind of services and assemblies and manufacturing that Thailand and Vietnam are offering.

Okay, so Dr. Rohn, President Xi emphasized the two millennia friendly exchanges between China and Cambodia, from the Tang Dynasty to modern diplomatic relations forced by King Nurandam Sihanouk and Chinese leaders. How has this long historical relationship shaped today's bilateral ties?

Yeah, I think this relationship has a long history and certainly very much related to its cultural sort of affinity. And also, I think, which has

implications for current relationship. I think President Xi in his sort of written statement before that was published, the Cambodia press talked about the truth, the roots of that relationship and focusing by emphasizing, highlighting that

That relationship, long history, culture, has defined, I think, China and Cambodia's mutual commitment to a kind of friendship and righteousness. And, of course, very much related to the modern part of the interactions

I think Chinese, every Chinese, Chinese on the street would certainly know

the late King Norodon Sihanouk, and of course, and this is the family, I mean, the king's family, family members. That is very much, I think, defined the relationship as we talk about this very important relationship, I claim, rocket-solid relationship, traditional friendship, close neighbors. Actually,

I think all these factors put together give us a very special sort of sentiment and feeling to each other.

And of course, there are quite a lot of stories related to that. Certainly, when China and Cambodia, they support each other in difficult times. And I would also say

an example of it. I think February 2020 when the COVID-19 was struck in China and it was former Prime Minister Hong Sun was the first head of government around the country who ventured to visit China to express his solidarity to China. And of course, during that difficult

difficult area of China and the Communist Party have been supporting each other. So there are a lot of stories. And it's also, I mean, of course, because of that, it has set an example. It's an exemplary example of a kind of state-state relationship, despite the size and different history and culture.

Well, I know President Xi has called for building a China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era, and he emphasized bringing greater stability and certainty to this turbulent world. How would you interpret this vision?

Well, the CCC, this China-Cambodia community, has been an idea that's been around for a while. It was discussed at great length in 2024 on a visit of the foreign minister. And it emphasizes this kind of shared future and community building. And this is common not just to Cambodia, but also Malaysia and Vietnam, this idea that regionally,

These is a very important relationship. Obviously, you know, he's stressed when it comes to Cambodia, you know, all the things my colleague has put about this, you know, deep historical relationship, sharing of culture, all of these things. So at this point, it's just Xi Jinping is making sure that there are common themes, all right?

Belt and Road, all of these things that the on the economic side, but he's also being very attentive to the specific differences. With Vietnam, it was about anti-colonialization. In Cambodia, it's more about the nature of the relationship, the economic relationship and the deep ties that go there. And Malaysia in terms of more development. So very nuanced approach.

where he is taking broad themes and then relating them very individually. This is really a contrast to other approaches to these countries, which is a one size fits all tariffs against everybody.

Well, Dr. Rohn, President Xi also called for greater synergy between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Cambodia's pentagonal strategy, as well as advancing projects like the Industrial and Technological Corridor and Fish and Rice Corridor. What specific opportunities do these initiatives present for Cambodia's economic development? I think the most important thing

opportunities that this relationship provided for both China and Cambodia. Cambodia in particular is of course, their understanding and commitment again that the practical cooperation based on win-equality and win-win result. And

For many years, I think China has been working very closely with Cambodia as the largest trading partner and also largest source of investment. And the infrastructure sort of building that China has been helped certainly plays a very much important role in preparing

or laying the ground for Cambodia's industrial modernization. So, I mean, the first ever expressway, first sort of, I mean, largest power plant, largest, I mean,

stadiums and so forth for development a lot of them they have played a very important role and uh in in cambodia's development but in the meantime i think uh uh china and and has also working very closely with cambodia in improving its social development in terms of beauty helping building the hospitals and and and others and

Last but not least, I see that the

because all this takes place, happened in the context where the political trust has been deep, solid, and which provides the foundation for the two sides to have a better synergy or to better synergize their development strategy in the context of the I-Band Belt and Road Initiative. So it is, again, a kind of demonstration and showing case

the sort of the win-win result of cooperation between China and Cambodia in the context of South-South cooperation or global South. I think, of course, on the other hand, I think Cambodia also helps China a lot.

by certainly supporting China steadfastly on the issues of core concerns, and also, of course, helped China in, I mean,

safeguarding when China, I mean issues like related to Taiwan, others that has been a core interest of China. It's kind of a mutual understanding and a mutual support has very much helped prepare the ground for that. But all in all, I believe that that

cooperation, that commitment, helping each other based on equality and women's cooperation, very much helped the two sides.

to achieve their own respective development based on its own conditions and locality. Well, Aynur, actually China remains Cambodia's largest trading partner and top source of foreign investment. What sectors are currently driving this relationship? And looking ahead, are there any

new or emerging areas of cooperation? Yeah, I mean, China's been the number one source of FDI for the last 13 years, and it's been a very comprehensive development. They are, you know, this fish and rice corridor is to bring agricultural products from Cambodia to the markets.

in China. And then going the other way, you have this industrial corridor, which is allowing Cambodia to build the infrastructure it needs to climb the value chain. I mean, you have to have electricity. To have electricity, you have to have transformers. You have to decide what kind of power you can get, hydro, et cetera. Somebody has to build them. Then you have to have economic development and companies that are willing to come in and

Use the local advantages, especially the cheaper labor to do that. So it represents yet another area where there is a labor dividend that can be harvested, but it has to be used very carefully.

It has to use, you know, the dividends must be used to build out the country so that it can advance. It can't just stay as a, you know, as a resource agricultural country that is, you know, beholding to China. It has to climb that area. And this is something that is a little bit different, different.

about China. They're not trying to keep countries in place. They're trying to say, look, let's all go forward together. And in terms of future development, there's somewhere around three to 400,000 Chinese have immigrated down there. They're doing companies. They're working there. They're bringing knowledge, expertise, and of course, jobs. And these are the areas of

It's going to continue, especially as China goes up the tertiary trap, tertiary trap.

industry area, trying to get more into services and things like this, manufacturing is going to go to areas where it's especially if it's labor intensive, the places like Cambodia. Okay, well, Dr. Rohn, actually, much of Cambodia's manufacturing sector relies on Chinese imported raw materials, with the final goods often exported to the US.

Meanwhile, Chinese investment in Cambodia's energy and logistics infrastructure also depend on a healthy manufacturing sector. But given the rising U.S. tariffs under Trump's policies, how do you think China and Cambodia can collaborate to mitigate the potential economic shocks?

I think for me the only viable way for that to mitigate the abuse of the tariffs by the Trump administration and also related economic shocks is to further deepening and expanding that cooperation based on the solid foundation we have talked about. The

I mean, the political trust, that is the most important thing, and the infrastructure and the progress that has been made in the past years, past decades. That is very much, I think, needed to further explore, of course, in the current situation.

So that they in the context of what we are talking about, the most important thing, I believe, is, of course, the I mean, by trying by working together to upgrade the Cambodia's capabilities to Cambodia.

to a sort of higher or advanced manufacturing in terms of capacity building, technology transfer, and so on and so forth. And also I think the other important area, I believe, is that the two countries can work together

to help Cambodia's side in particular to be better prepared or sort of adapted to the new technological development advancement. So in this regard, I believe the green development, climate change, I mean, digital development and so on and so forth are also very much important. But again, in this regard, it also involves a lot of

sort of cooperation in terms of capacity buildings and investment and so on and so forth. And last but not least, I think with that, I guess China and Cambodia cooperation, practical cooperation, would play a very important role in promoting the inter-ACM integration and cooperation and making so that I think China and Asia

Cambodia bilateral relationship will also help and promote ASEAN development. So there are quite a lot of sort of challenges which are arising from the tariffs, sort of war tariffs, I mean the shocks brought by the tariffs. But in the meantime, it also provides a lot of opportunities for

for the two sides to deepen and broaden their cooperation to raise to a high quality or high level of

Well, I know President Xi emphasized the importance of drawing wisdom from the five principles of peaceful coexistence and the Bandon spirit. What specific lessons or values from the 1955 Bandon conference that you believe remain most relevant in today's geopolitical climate? Well, first and foremost is the treatment of smaller, less developed countries as, you know, with respect to

These are sovereign nations that do not want to be pushed around or subservient to other nations. China's approach to these is very different than the U.S. approach or the previous colonial approaches of Europe. And in terms of the five principles, they have really kind of morphed. Today, there are three things that China talks about as the, you know, the

The further on development of these five principles, and those are that every country needs to be secure in their borders, and their security doesn't depend on the insecurity of somebody else. And we see that clearly is needed in places like Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Russia, etc. But there are many other places in Africa where there are real problems, and security has to be maintained. A path to development is

Every country wants to do better for its people. The question is how and what is needed to do that and how other countries can help and see this as a win-win situation. And then this last part, as I was saying in the first part, is really about respect. Understanding that every nation is a complex mosaic of

history, music, literature, philosophy, different groups, often different languages and things like that. And they need to be understood as they are. They should not be trying to be pigeonholed and said, you will be this because that's what we want you to be. You have to respect their culture and their self-determination.

Dr. Rone, what's your thought on this? Given the rise of unilateralism and protectionism, how do you think the Bannon principles and the five principles of peaceful coexistence offer a potential framework for rebuilding trust in multilateralism? Well, I think that the Bannon conference, which means the spread of that

Of course, we are talking about this year marks the 70th anniversary. So it is very important for us to draw inspiration from that. The most important thing I think, I mean, relevant to today's world is first and foremost, I believe, is kind of a solidarity of global south or developing countries in the context of

where the unilateralism, hegemonism and I think the way that the United States, the bullying of the United States and it's

I mean, that has been the consequences arising from that. That is something I think very much relevant today, even 70 years later. And related to that is, of course, China. And again, I think last year when, I mean,

71 years ago when the five principles of peaceful coexistence was formulated between China, India, Myanmar and others. I mean, these principles, these sort of understanding

as now, I mean, 70 years and more has passed, but still very in the context that where they have become part of the international norms and they are very much in a way help developing country big and small. Particularly, I think of when we're facing such kind of a

pressure that we need to work together, work closer, join our hands to defend, to safeguard the international system, based on UN principles, peace and purposes, and also, of course, the current market trading system that is

very much important for these developing countries. I mean, 70 years ago, almost the same countries went and

and now are pursuing their economic development apart from the political independence. Well, Aina, President Xi also mentioned the global development initiative, global security initiative, the global civilization initiative. I mean, how do these

contrast with some Western-led institutions and how do they resonate with Cambodia? The major difference is that the World Bank and IMF will come in and they have an assumption that they know the answer and that you simply have to implement it. So they will tell you how to run your government. Their loans will be conditioned on what they see as your problems. So they're the doctor, you're the patient, you have no say in anything.

And it hasn't worked. That's one of the problems. The three principles that you talked about, the global development, global security and global civilization that I was referring to earlier, these are not they have no ideological component.

They're simply saying that if you're going to have a multipolar world, there are certain basic things that we have to agree on as common goods. And I don't think anyone's going to argue that security, development and respect are not common basis of nations interacting, interrelating to each other and trading and coming to consensus. And I think this is the major difference in the West. It's the emphasis is on corporatism. If I have 51 percent, I don't care what you think.

But in Asia, it has to be consensus. There'll be a lot of time talking and working things out until everyone in the room will nod, "Okay, I can support this. I may not agree with everything, but I will support it and stand behind it."

And this is the basis for it takes longer, but it will last longer as well. You know, you're bringing everybody into the same side of the table and everybody's agreeing. That is much better than somebody harboring ill feelings because they were run over by because you had more power than they did at the moment of decision.

We've been talking to Einar Tengen, senior fellow at Taihe Institute, and Rowing, senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies. Coming up, California has become the first U.S. state to sue Donald Trump over tariffs. What could come next? This is World Today. We'll be back.

This is World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. In the United States, California Governor Gavin Newsom has sued the Trump administration, challenging the president's authority to impose sweeping tariffs. The lawsuit argues that the U.S. president's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs is unlawful. Donald Trump has used the act to slap tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China, as well as a 10% tariff on all imports.

The lawsuit also argues that enacting such tariffs requires approval from Congress. Joining us now in the studio is my colleague Ding Heng. Thanks for being here. Hello, Zhao Ying. Well, first of all, what kind of damage are being brought to California by Trump's tariffs?

California represents the biggest state-level economy in America. It is also the largest importer at the state level. According to Gavin Newsom, Trump's tariffs could bring billions of U.S. dollars in economic damage or losses to California.

I think one angle to look at what's going on here is that California is actually home to many wealthy people. So the income tax revenues from these people's capital gains actually mean a lot to the state-level budget. Now, because the tariffs have caused the tumbles in the U.S. equity market, this could deal a major blow to California's state budget.

Also, let's keep in mind that California is a farming powerhouse in America as well. So many of the nuts, many of the fruits or vegetables grown in California are destined for other countries, for overseas markets. For example, California farmers grow somewhere around 67% of the world's total almon, a kind of nut.

In a situation in which U.S. agricultural products have become a major target when other countries retaliate in response to Donald Trump's tariffs, California will surely stand to lose a great deal.

Now Gavin Newsom has tried to ask some countries to exempt California's products from their retaliation, from their retaliatory tariffs. But we will have to see whether any deal can be reached in this particular regard.

In the meantime, California farmers rely on the global markets for materials to build their farming equipment and their irrigation systems, for example. So now they are very much concerned about whether they will continue to access all those needed materials and whether they will afford them. These are some of the examples.

Yeah, but now that the California governor has filed this lawsuit, what could come next? Well, from a legal perspective, the core argument of Gavin Newsom is that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act enables a U.S. president to block transactions in response to unusual foreign threats, but does not allow the president to adopt tariffs.

Actually, this particular act we are talking about here has never been used to impose tariffs before. Its content does not even mention tariffs clearly. And I

I think furthermore, it's very difficult to understand the so-called threats that are identified by President Donald Trump, for example, trade deficits or the loss of manufacturing away from America, as unusual. I mean, these are really the consequences of a trade policy that the U.S. pursued for decades previously. Then,

There is a separate law in America called the Trade Act. This law actually gives the president the power to raise tariffs in response to some unfair trade practices or for national security reasons.

However, before you announce tariffs, an investigation is usually required on a country-by-country or goods-by-goods basis. You just simply cannot all of a sudden slap tariffs on every country around the world like what President Donald Trump has done. So,

Going back to your question regarding what might happen next, I think the legal grounds of Trump's tariffs is very weak, that's for sure. So Gavin Newsom could have well-winged this particular lawsuit, and then a district court in California could have declared Donald Trump's tariff orders as dead or ineffective. In a scenario like that, and if Donald Trump

still wants to bypass the US Congress, he will possibly resort to the Trade Act that I have mentioned and then conduct all those required investigations in post-tariff. But of course, this is all under this particular assumption that somehow Donald Trump will play by rules. What do you think this lawsuit filed by California tells us about the possible political backlash that could trigger by Trump's tariffs?

So this is somewhat relevant with what I said just now. I mean, if the Trump administration loses this particular case and then turns to the U.S. Congress for a vote to adopt tariffs, this could place Republican lawmakers in a very vulnerable political position in the midterm elections.

In a recent opinion poll conducted by the CBS, 58% of Americans opposed the tariffs on imported goods. I mean...

When we talk about Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, he had actually scaled back his previous criticism of President Donald Trump after January's deadly fire in Los Angeles because California needs to seek support from the federal government on this particular fire issue. Now,

Given the fact that Gavin Newsom is serving as the plaintiff as the leading role in terms of this lawsuit regarding tariffs, he appears to be once again drifting away from this more reserved approach to the US president because probably in his eyes, he sees the tariffs as a life or death issue for California.

I think the bigger picture is that Donald Trump's tariff gamble is arguably a race against the political backlash. The White House is gambling that somehow tariffs will pressure more multinational corporations into bringing production to America. But the key issue here is that

If prices rise dramatically in America and jobs are lost because of Donald Trump's trade war, American voters will well turn against tariffs, making it harder to keep all those tariffs in place for the length of time needed to bring manufacturing to America if that could ever happen. And

According to an estimate by this Yale Budget Lab, an organization within the Yale University, all the Trump administration's existing tariffs would have cost the average American household some $3,800 in higher prices over the course of this year.

Well, in a speech on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that tariffs could pose a challenge for the U.S. central bank regarding how to choose between controlling inflation and boosting growth. So what do you make of her comments here very briefly? Well, that's economic common sense. If you want to control inflation caused by radical U.S. tariffs,

then a usual tool is for the U.S. Federal Reserve to increase interest rates. But that will be detrimental to the mission of boosting growth because businesses across the board in America are going to face higher costs in terms of their borrowing, in terms of their loan interest, etc. But the problem with the current White House administration is that you simply can't

reason with it. You can't talk to this administration about economic common sense. Expertise and professionalism don't really matter. That's the pathetic thing. Well, thank you, Ding Hong. This is World Today. We'll be back.

You're listening to World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng has called for high-quality development of foreign trade and joint efforts to build an open global economy. He made the remarks at the 137th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair. The vice premier stressed efforts to bolster foreign trade, foster new growth drivers of foreign trade, and encourage broader international economic and trade cooperation.

The official also highlighted the vast market and huge consumption potential of China, saying the country has always been a trustworthy trading partner. For more, we are joined by Dr. Zhou Mi, Senior Research Fellow with Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. Professor Zhou, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. So what role does this canton fair play in promoting global trade cooperation, especially at a time when the multilateral trading system is facing increasing pressure?

We know that the Ketun Fair is one of the very important and famous fairs in China. It has been here for so many years. I think that we have revealed the past decades the performance of this fair is trying to make a platform for both sides of the buyers and the sellers to meet with each other. We know that trust is one of the most important things to start from that, and we can have the international trade afterwards.

So this year, I think that is extremely important because the world's global supply chains are under reconstruction. So there are so many uncertainties for so many suppliers in the world. They want to find out whether it's possible to be another stable and predictable market. So they come here trying to find more confidence here. I think that is a really important time when we are looking at the change of the global supply chains.

This year's Canton Fair has attracted over 110,000 overseas buyers from 216 countries and regions, and that's a 10% increase from last year's event. What do you think is driving this surge in attendance despite the growing global uncertainty?

Well, I think that it is true that the world is under some uncertainty, especially about the so-called reciprocal tariffs by Donald Trump. And I mean, that is a very important factor that are driving those sellers. They have to consider about both two factors. The first one is about the price or the cost of making the international trade. And second is about uncertain about the supply chains. So let me try to find some alternative

possible market. And that is something that's really important for them to continue with their manufacturing and stocks. So they have to prepare for them in advance. Although we know the so-called reciprocal tariff has been suspended by Donald Trump for the next 90 days, maybe now only 80 days. But

they have to worry about the future. So for international trade, we think that China is providing not only the manufacturing basis, but also a very huge domestic market. So the market is so attractive because we are opening our border widely and we have set up several practices like the natural visa-free

for the entry of the foreigners from several or dozens of countries. So I think that is really easy for them to come to here, to China and find whether there are some opportunities or they can try to reestablish the connection with their friends and even some of the partners along the supply chains. Well, Vice Premier He Li-Feng emphasized high quality development and fostering new growth drivers in foreign trade. How do we understand this?

Well, I think that the high quality means really some changes when we compare it with the past. I think it is important for China to have a large increase of the international trade every year. But if you are looking at the first quarter, you know, the trade data, we see there may be a

six percent of the increase on the export but there are still some fluctuation on the input i think it's helpful for those countries who are exporting the crude oil the the gas and also the you know charcoal the soil beans when they are seeing that there are some decrease about about the prices maybe at most 20 percent they want to find a very important market to support their supply so they come here to find some alternative

The high quality also means that some differences. We are looking at the structure of the international trade. We are seeing that it's happening, you know, some of the changes are happening. So I think that the high quality really means that we are not trying to treat every country just as the same because they have their own advantages and they have their own demands. We can try to establish a better and more specific connections of all these trading partners.

Yeah. And if you look at this year's event, we see that innovative products like service robots, VR devices, low carbon appliances and smart home technologies, they are taking center stage. And so are we witnessing a shift in what global buyers expect from Chinese exports?

Yeah, it is true that in the past they may expect more of the electronics, some of the home appliances and even the vehicles. But now they are trying to have some new and more interesting enjoy or some kind of products from China. Like the products you have mentioned, robots are not only just the products.

it has embedded a lot of artificial intelligence support, the big models and also the telecommunication connections. So it's a wide use of the technology.

When they are trying to come here because they cannot find any other choices in any other countries, maybe in the United States they have some very important innovation like for the robots. But they don't, I mean, the companies don't have enough market to support that. So in China, you know, those kind of innovation products are increasingly developed in the recent months. And I think that is because of the market.

So the market is really important for those companies who are doing the research and development. They really need some kind of return after they have put so much money in trying to make some innovative way. Yeah. So with growing concern over the unpredictability of U.S. tariffs, how are Chinese exporters and their international partners adapting to this shifting trade environment?

Well, it is true when we are looking at the future, we want more certainty. I think that for those trading partners of us, I think we can suggest to them that we maybe should take care and take it serious about the possible fluctuation of the tariffs from the United States. I think the United States may be still the number one consumption market, but

If there are so many fluctuations, it is impossible for us to make a judgment accordingly.

So maybe we should try to think about whether there are some maybe possible alternative ways, like can we have a better industrialization and urbanization based on the cooperation. So for China and so many developing countries, I think we have many common basis for the development and also our principles are the same. So we can try to have a better cooperation along the supply chain and have a better cooperation in the industrial chains.

So we do have many possible solutions, not only for the trading goods, but also the services and investment in those areas. We can do more. Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Dr. Zhou Mi, Senior Research Fellow with Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. This is World Today. Stay with us.

You're listening to World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. Ireland is marking its presence at this year's Hainan Expo to seize commercial opportunities amid China's growing demand for sustainable products. Joseph Keating, trade and commercial counsellor at the Irish Embassy in China, says the expo is a key channel to connect with Chinese consumers and buyers.

Ireland has participated in the annual event every year since it began, using the platform to promote its food, drink and luxury goods. In an interview with our reporter Song Rui-Hsin, Keating also highlighted Ireland's preference for free trade and stressed the importance of a fair global trading system. China is Ireland's largest trading partner in Asia, and agri-food remains a key focus of bilateral trade.

According to the Irish Food Board, Ireland's food and beverage exports to China exceeded €580 million in 2024, with dairy products accounting for 67% of the total. Zhou, have you observed growing demand among Chinese consumers for healthy and organic products? Yes, I think as so many people have moved out of poverty in China and into the middle-income, middle-class,

We've seen Chinese consumers become far more discernible and looking for quality rather than just price. And I think Ireland, as a very small country who rely on exports, we pride ourselves on the quality of our produce. And so we have seen an increase in demand for our quality products.

How is Ireland shaping or adapting its export strategy and branding to meet these evolving preferences? I think what we're doing is localization. We can't expect to be sitting in Ireland on the other side of the world and just expecting people to know who we are. So we are attending expos, we are pushing the Ireland brand and we

try to focus in on, in different expos, on different events or, sorry, on different companies and that. But in terms of the Dairy, the Bordbilla, who are our food board, the Irish food board, they have a large presence here in China and they are focused on promoting Irish food, Irish drink. Food and drink comes under the food board. But

all of the companies are setting up local distributors here and training them, bringing them back to Ireland to see how the food is made and to see the quality in practice so that local people can explain to other local people the quality of the products and how we are able to stand over the quality. As Ireland continues to deepen its economic and cultural engagement with China,

How is it participating in the 2025 China International Consumer Products Expo in Hainan? Well, this is our fifth year. We've been here every year. I think last year was our biggest year because we were a country of honor here and we had a large number of exhibitors. This year we're a little bit smaller because

Obviously, with not being a country of honour, it doesn't have the same focus. But we've always, at the embassy, we've always put great stock in the Hainan Expo. Ireland doesn't have particularly large consumer goods as such, but what we do have are quality goods, particularly food and drink. So some might say

obviously drink or whisky is a, it falls into the consumer goods category in that it's not necessary for life, but it's a luxury good. And we like to think our whisky is the best in the world. So we would promote Irish whisky as being a luxury good. We would think Irish food, Irish dairy products as a luxury good because of the efforts that we go to to make sure it's organic,

It's 100% natural. And so we like to promote that as being within the consumer goods family. Do you mean the key objective is promoting or...

From an embassy point of view, our key objective is to promote Ireland. In Ireland, then the government don't get involved necessarily with individual companies. So the companies will promote their own products. We are happy to stand beside them and support them. So I'm not here to promote individual products as such, but I'm here to promote Ireland.

but Ireland stands for quality and all of the companies here fall in under that umbrella of high quality

Team Ireland. What unique opportunities does the Hainan Expo offer for small and medium-sized Irish enterprises aiming to enter or expand in Chinese market? Well, they have here at the Consumer Goods Expo, they have a lot of buyers. And so they have the opportunity to meet up with new buyers or new distributors.

And then particularly Hainan being a duty-free island, the products we have here, we have a lot of whiskeys. So that's an obvious fit for whiskeys and duty-free. A lot of whiskey is sold in duty-free around the world. And so what better than a large island that's duty-free to be able to sell whiskey, bring it here and then be able to move it on to the mainland.

So that's one of the big reasons. More broadly, to what extent has the Expo become a strategic platform for Ireland and potentially, let's say, even other EU nations? Well, I can't speak for the other EU nations, I'm afraid. But for Ireland, we...

We're a small country on the edge of Europe. We rely on trade for our growth and we rely on a fair trading system, a balanced trading system. We rely on rules-based with the WTO at its core. And that's trade expos embody that where we have

buyers and sellers and meeting and making arrangements to be able to move trade around and that. We would see it, and we've seen it from the start, as a great expo to be at because it has the consumer at its heart. And that's what we're aiming out to the consumer. We're not necessarily trying to sell to large corporations or... It's consumer products that we're selling here. And so...

It's the only expo boat that Ireland has been at consistently since I've come here in 2020. So we've attended every year, even throughout the pandemic. So we would see this as a strategic expo to be at to help

particularly in the food and drink area. Like you've said, Ireland relies on trade, especially fair trade system. So do you think Trump's tariff pressure has impacted it seriously? Well, first of all, I don't know because I don't think we know what's actually going to be the end result. But Ireland would prefer to see zero tariffs. Ireland is about fair trade. It's about

you know, multilateralism, globalism and not protectionism or that. So on individual countries, what they do, I don't have a comment on that. Bilateral trading goods between Ireland and China surpassed 21 billion euro in 2024. That's an increase of 8.1% from 2023. So how does Ireland plan to

further develop trade ties with China, particularly in sectors allied with healthy consumption trends? I think we just keep doing what we're doing, which is localization, which is promotion. I think we have good product. We have at home for our food and drink, we have the world's only sustainable program, which marries the

the farmer, the producer, the vendors. So we say from farm to fork, we can trace the food, all fully traceable. It's called Origin Green and it's the world's only sustainability program, the only national sustainability program. So we will promote that so you can be guaranteed that the food you're getting or the drink you're getting is sustainable.

organic, is sustainable, is, you know, as it says, if it says it's organic, it's checked and it's monitored and it's audited to ensure that it is. It's not just a label, you know. And that's what we have because we need trade and we need to be trusted as trade. We're a very small country. We don't have natural resources like other countries, you know, coal and gas and diamonds and whatever. So we rely on

our people and our land. So we produce good food, good drink, and that's what agriculture is our largest indigenous industry. Yes, we have other industries where in high tech and that, but in terms of indigenous and people working in a particular industry, agriculture is our largest and would say the backbone of our economy.

That is Joseph Keating, trade and commercial counselor at the Irish Embassy in China, speaking with our reporter Song Ruixin. And that's all the time we have for this edition of World Today. To listen to this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes, you can download our podcast by searching World Today. And for further discussion, you can follow us on X at CGTN Radio. I'm Zhao Ying. Thank you so much for listening. See you next time.

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