The city of Taichung in central Taiwan held the first news conference outside the country to announce in Tokyo on March 8 that it will host the 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition, from Nov. 3, 2018 to April 24, 2019.

The theme of the exposition is "Rediscover GNP — Green, Nature and People." Its aim is to remind the world of the importance of coexisting with nature and building sustainable societies, rather than pursuing economic expansion.

The exposition will be held at three separate venues in Taichung, where visitors will enjoy exhibitions and attractions on nature, agriculture, human-nature coexistence and other environment-related themes. Some 8 million people are expected to visit the venues' 60.88 hectares.

"We would like to let the world see Taiwan through the 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition," Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-Lung said at the news conference in Tokyo.

He chose Tokyo as the first place outside Taiwan to hold a news conference on the exposition because of the amicable bilateral relations between Japan and his country.

"Taichung regards the Japan-Taiwan relationship as very important. I hope the 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition will allow the two parties to enter a new phase of friendship," he said.

He added that he would like more Japanese to visit Taiwan. About 4.2 million Taiwanese visit Japan each year while 1.9 million Japanese go to Taiwan, he said.

Kuo Chung-Shi, deputy representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, also expressed his wish for Japanese to visit Taiwan and said the 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition is a great opportunity.

Also March 8, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office organized an event to introduce Taiwanese cuisine to the media at Foodex Japan 2017 in Makuhari, Chiba Prefecture.