KIGALI - The upcoming 2019 Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition offers an opportunity for Rwandan companies to further explore the Chinese market, an official with Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said Wednesday.

"The exhibition is an opportunity for Rwandan companies to further explore the China market with a view to increase Rwandan exports to this market," said Sunny Ntayombya, RDB head of communication and marketing, in a written interview with Xinhua.

Nine Rwandan companies are set to take part in the exhibition, which will present processed fruit juices, processed chili pepper, honey, roasted coffee, tea and handcrafts, said Ntayombya.

The organizers of the exhibition have been helpful in giving enough information for Rwanda to avoid any logistical disappointments, he said.

"Rwandan companies and Rwanda Development Board, together with other stakeholders who will be in the Rwanda pavilion (at the exhibition), are looking forward to successful participation in the expo," he added.

"We expect to use the expo as another opportunity to tap into big Chinese market for made-in-Rwanda products and to expand our networks," Gerard Sina, owner of a Rwandan company which will take part in the exhibition, told Xinhua in a phone interview.

Slated to start on Monday, April 29, the 162-day expo is poised to impress an expected number of 16 million visitors from China and abroad with a huge collection of plants, flowers and eye-catching pavilions as well as ideas for green development.

More than 110 countries and international organizations as well as over 120 non-official exhibitors have confirmed their participation, marking the highest attendance in the expo's history.

The exhibitors will present their latest achievements in horticulture in the 503-hectare expo site at the foot of the Great Wall in Beijing's Yanqing district.