Sichuan Unveils the New One Belt One Road Blueprints

Source:Sichuan Daily  Date£º2015-06-08

Since incorporated into program for the large national-level foreign-related fairs last year, at the end of March of this year, the Western China International Fair (henceforth: the WCIF) was written into the One Belt One Road strategy national government white paper - Vision and Action for Pushing Joint Development of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (henceforth: Vision and Action, become one of the 10 main platforms for pushing the One Belt One Road construction .

Along with the One Belt One Road great strategy slowly unveiling, it will also serve as the main carrier for opening up Sichuan to the world. Which new opportunities will Sichuan’s exhibition industry welcome? How will the WCIF facilitate Sichuan to join the One Belt One Road strategy blueprints?

To create an important platform: The WCIF Import Exhibition Twin Engine

  “In recent years, the functions of investment promotions, trade cooperation and diplomatic services platform of WCIF have manifested and played an important part in driving economic cooperation and cultural exchanges between the western regions including Sichuan and all corners of the world. Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences Open-up (Sustainable Development) Research Center Secretary-General Wang Xiaoqi thought that WCIF written in the One Belt One Road's Vision and Action was no accident.

         Wang Xiaoqi’s outlook is supported by data. The last five WCIFs had a total of 6,265 contracts signed, with a total value of RMB 4.1 trillion. Over 40 foreign governments and foreign organizations have attended, bringing the total number of areas to 500 and 95,000 guests. No matter the expo rules, the outcome can be seen, the WCIF is an important platform and driving force for the One Belt One Road construction.

Czech Republic President Advisor Kohut has expressed that he will accept interviews from Sichuan reporters at the 15th WCIF as a meeting ground. Sichuan and the Czech Republic have further deepened their mutual collaboration in aspects such as pilot training, flight school cooperation and environmental nano-tech. The Czech Republic Consulate in Chengdu is predicted to open in September of this year, and Chengdu will hopefully become the initial city to establish direct flights to the Czech Republic.

According to the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee and government major policy decisions, Western China (Sichuan) Import Expo and International Investment Fair (henceforth: Import Expo) will make its first appearance in Chengdu from October 23rd to 27th, working to create an important One Belt One Road import and trade platform and become the WCIF alternate host for the western China region’s open and development new-style brand name fair.

“How to fully take advantage of the WCIF and Import Expo dual engine, boost Sichuan’s involvement in the One Belt One Road strategy, these are our focus and starting off points after today", an official in the Sichuan Exposition Affairs Bureau said. The WCIF and Import Expo will further highlight investment trades and energetically invited the governments of countries along the One Belt One Road and other guests to attend and discuss advanced research areas’ economic cooperation, planning and measures for cultural cooperation and deepen exchange results among all leaders.

In the meantime, energetically giving play to an opening platform to drive interconnection and internetworking results and embrace Chengdu-Europe high-speed rail, logistics infrastructure and facilities, port channel construction, BCIM economic corridor construction and the two river basin economic cultural cooperation between China and Russia as well as other planned series of special events.

“Hosting the Import Expo will be a driving impetus in Sichuan’s port channel construction," said officials related to port affairs. Hosting the Import Expo works with Sichuan’s requirements for port construction and there is hope that (hosting) the Import Expo will attract even more foreign business to enter into protected areas and bonded logistics parks.

This Import Expo specifically focuses on bonded logistics parks; the important points are customs supervised areas, open ports and parks, etc. and pushing Chengdu’s Hi-tech zone as well as the recently obtained batch of construction such as the airport bonded logistics center (Type B), Luzhou Port bonded logistics center (Type B) and Tianfu New Area customs growth and development.

“Also willing to use the WCIF and Import Expo to allow trade to come in unimpeded,” said Provincial Council for the Promotion of the Expo Economy Deputy Secretary General Zeng Wujia, still able to adopt through outreach such as foreigner expo organization collaboration through One Belt One Road emerging markets referring the WCIF and Import Expo, pushing western and Sichuan enterprises and products to go abroad.

Picking Up the Pace: Cultivating Municipal-Provincial Fairs Hosting Combined Open Activities

“The current municipal-provincial exhibition industry mentality has gotten stronger. Every exhibition area’s software and hardware is unceasingly improving, and the lopsidedness of the exhibition industry across the province is slowly being corrected," said Wang Xiaoqi.

Over the past few years, technology fairs, alcohol fairs, logistics fairs, tourism fairs, pickling fairs and a bunch of other regional, specialized fairs, have popped up like mushrooms. For example, this March, at the 2015 China International Alcoholic Drinks Expo hosted in Lanzhou, there were 512 companies from 27 different countries and regions in attendance with 327 signed contracts with a total value of RMB 49.84 billion. This conference in size, scope, signed contracts and total value is the most successful so far.

With the municipal-provincial expo competition set to bloom, more and more famous expos are being attracted to Sichuan as a host, as well as organizing Sichuan companies to go abroad and attend other municipal-provincial and internationally renowned expos for these companies to set up and bridge the western region with the rest of the world.

“These few years, we have brought in the APEC SME Summit, APEC SME Technology Conference and Fair, China Food Exposition, China International SME Fair and others to be hosted in Sichuan. Last year for this first time, cooperating with Germany’s Hannover Milano Fairs Company, created the Western China Commercial Manufacturing and Technology Fair," said an official in the Sichuan Exposition Affairs Bureau.

This Marc, an organization of Sichuan companies and delegates attended the CeBIT, Ji Mi Tech, wpay ums, Spaceon Electronics and other companies that placed orders on site and the hosting of the WCIF and Import Expo also received a large amount of overseas attention from around the world. In the last part of May, the organization of provincial companies will attend the 19th Investment and Trade Forum for Cooperation Between East and West China & the Silk Road International Exposition and the 18th China (Chongqing) International Sourcing Fair (CCISF), Sichuan Pavilion of High Quality Goods, the delegation brought equipment, robotics, and other unmanned advanced technology, receiving praise from traveling merchants at home and abroad.

While attracting foreign investment and sending companies abroad, Sichuan expo industry is stronger and is collaborating with world-renowned expo groups, studying exhibition venues, management, operations to understand their concepts and energetically preparing the western China international expo city with projects, operations, and management work: picking up exhibition informatization processes, working to construct western China information platform and unceasingly upgrading expo globalization, specialization, marketization and informatization levels.

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