“Another edition of the China-CEEC Expo in Ningbo, but this time we had to ask our agents to participate as our representatives!” said Ivars Osis, president of Riga Varnish and Paint Factory. In the past few years, his business has gradually developed “together with Ningbo”.

Indeed, when the China (Ningbo)-Latvia Cross-border E-commerce Hub was officially on May 20, 2019 in Riga, Rilak, the paint that Osis’s factory produces, was among the first batch of products flown to Ningbo.

“In fact, before that, Rilak had already made its name in in paint industry in China, having been selected as one of the official paints for the construction of the Daxing International Airport,” said Shi Wenjie, Rilak’s general agent in China. However, due to a lack of funding, there wasn’t much publicity about the selection from Riga Varnish and Paint Factory, and even the Latvian authorities knew nothing about it at the time. For Chinese consumers, the paint is more of a niche product.

“While Rilak’s high quality has made itself the official paint for Daxing International Airport,” Shi recalled excitedly, “the encounter with Ningbo has surely propelled it onto the ‘fast lane’ of development in the Chinese market.”

In June 2019, Rilak was taken to Ningbo for the first China-CEEC Expo, during which it was officially endorsed the “designated paint for Daxing International Airport”. Over 25,000 businessmen from nearly 60 countries and regions came to know it.

In September 2019, Daxing International Airport was officially put into operation. The area that is covered with Rilak paint exceeded 100,000 square meters, of which 1,425 barrels paint came from Ningbo.

In November 2019, Latvia set up a national pavilion for the first time in the second China International Import Expo (CIIE), and Rilak among those products invited for exhibition.

In February 2020, Rilak was selected as the recommended brand of “Belt and Road” featured products by China’s Ministry of Commerce.

On June 8, during the CEEC Products Online Fair, Maija Manika, the Latvian ambassador to China, did a live stream selling session for Rilak, attracting millions of viewers and making Rilak a national brand of Latvia.

More recently in February 2021, Rilak signed three national cooperation agreements with Chinese clients following the China-CEEC Summit. “Next, we will take Ningbo as the core operation area of the whole southern market and radiate southward to Fujian and Guangdong provinces,” Shi the general agent was full of confidence. “We hope to further leverage the China-CEEC Expo o better expand the Chinese market and improve our service.”