Visitors select rice noodle-making equipment at a rice noodle expo held in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nov. 16, 2019. The 2019 World Rice Noodle Expo kicked off Saturday at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center. Deemed as a major trade fair of the China-ASEAN Expo, the three-day event covers an exhibition area of 10,000 square meters for the exhibition of raw materials, technologies and equipment, condiments, additives, garnishes, packaging, cold-chain logistics, and cooking training, among others. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

NANNING, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The first World Rice Noodle Expo kicked off Saturday in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with more than 300 organizations and companies from home and abroad in attendance.

The event, co-organized by the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat, the World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry (WFCCI) and three other Chinese organizations, aims to build an international exchange platform for the rice noodle industry.

Running until November 18, the expo is also expected to promote cooperation between China and neighboring countries in rice noodles and related industries and introduce the delicacy as a new cultural bond to countries and regions along the Belt and Road.

The expo will show the rice noodle industry chain including raw materials, rice noodle products and processing machinery.

Wang Lei, secretary general of the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat said such an event was an innovative move to upgrade the development of the China-ASEAN Expo and would be built into a professional platform for cooperation between China and ASEAN, as well as between Chinese provinces and cities in the rice noodle industry.