The 1st China-South Asia Expo will be held from June 6 to 10 in Kunming, capital city of Yunnan province, the Ministry of Commerce said on May 7.

With the goal of promoting China-South Asia cooperation and development, and of sharing mutual benefits and harmonious development, the expo will be an event integrating commodity trade, service trade, investment cooperation, tourism cooperation and cultural exchanges.

"China and South Asian countries share a long-standing relationship and traditional friendship between our peoples," said Li Jinzao, vice-minister of commerce. "In recent years, China and South Asian countries have seen economic and trade relations developing rapidly."

Trade value between the two sides grew from $5.7 billion in 2000 to $93 billion in 2012, reflecting an annual growth rate of over 26 percent.

Li said that in the future, China will further boost its imports from South Asian countries. Over the past several years, China's imports from South Asian countries increased by 23 percent annually.