A staff member of Shanxi Huaxiang Group, a component manufacturer, introduces the company's products to foreign business people at the 16th China International Foundry Expo in Beijing, May 16. [Photo/sxrb.com]

Shanxi province's casting industry was showcased at the 16th China International Foundry Expo, which concluded on May 19 in Beijing, the first stop on the 2018 Shanxi Brands China Tour.

More than 40 casting, metalworking and equipment companies from the province presented more than 10,000 of their latest products to Chinese and foreign attendees, approximately 10,000 of whom flooded onto the 2,000-square-meter exhibition floor.

Christian, a quality manager from Brazil seeking suppliers, showed great interest in the vehicle casting products made by Shanxi Huaxiang Group, a component manufacturer.

"Having worked in China for 19 years and hearing much about Huaxiang, I decided to attend and discover more," he said.

Many foreign businesspeople attended the expo with the intention of finding new business partners and establishing cooperative ventures with Shanxi enterprises.

The expo facilitated the closing of deals worth 2.48 million yuan ($390,000), with Shanxi exhibitors receiving domestic and international orders worth 20.30 million yuan and intention orders worth 52.90 million yuan during the event.

According to Chen Hecai, director of Shanxi Chamber of International Commerce, the province launched the 2018 Shanxi Brands China Tour to showcase the province’s advanced casting industry and promote its local brands, aiding transformation and upgrading of the sector.

Shanxi was the first place in China to see the use of iron and copper, and has been at the forefront of the domestic casting industry ever since.

Now, Shanxi is home to more than 2,000 foundry manufacturers, with 300,000 workers producing an annual casting output of 4.6 million tons and an output value exceeding 50 billion yuan.

Several Shanxi counties feature specialized casting production clusters such as Qingxu’s cast-iron radiator facilities, which account for 80 percent of the domestic cast-iron radiator market, and Taigu county’s electrical fitting sector, which has a 90 percent share of the domestic market.

The Beijing expo proved successful in promoting Shanxi brands and marked a positive start to this year's Shanxi Brands China Tour. The tour focuses on developing competitive industrial clusters and transforming traditional industries into intelligent and eco-friendly ones. The tour will stop next in Shanghai with other cities to follow.