The First China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Expo was inaugurated in Yinchuan City on the morning of September 26 and Kim Okchae, Secretary-General of the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments (NEAR), delivered a video speech at the opening ceremony.

Kim Okchae noted that the world economy grapples with unprecedented difficulties due to the impacts brought by COVID-19 pandemic, with people-to-people exchanges affected and global trade plummeting. The wine industry is also hit hard. According to a report by the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), the total trade of wine stood at 26.9 billion euros in 2020, a decrease of 7% compared with that in 2019. However, bucking a global downward trend, Ningxia’s wine export increased by 46% in 2020, which is a truly remarkable achievement. Last year, the ROK media published a news report named Ningxia of China: A Rising Star in the World Wine Market, as Ningxia has won 22 gold medals in the Berliner Wine Trophy. Kim Okchae hoped that Ningxia, with the help of NEAR, would promote its wine and develop cultural and tourist products, building itself into the world wine capital.

As a regional organization in Northeast Asia, NEAR has 79 member regional governments from six countries including China, the ROK, Japan, Russia, Mongolia and the DPRK. It is an important platform in promoting the pragmatic cooperation and friendship in this region. Over the past years, NEAR has played a positive role in facilitating the exchanges among regional governments in culture, tourism, environment, logistics, etc.