On 8 July 2016, the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd China Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair and the High-end Silk Road Cooperation and Development Forum was held in Lanzhou. The Opening Ceremony was presided by H.E. Mr. Lin Duo, Governor of Gansu Province, H.E. Mr. Wang Sanyun, Secretary of the CPC Committee of Gansu Province addressed the audience, and Mr. Wang Zhengwei, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC declared the opening of the 22nd Lanzhou Fair. Deputy Minister of Ministry of Commerce H.E. Mme. Gao Yan, H.E. Rashid Alimov, Secretary-General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Special Representative of Vice Prime Minister of Thailand and Deputy Minister of Commerce H.E. Mr. Vuthichai Duangratana, Mr. Philippe Scholtes, Managing Director of UNIDO delivered speeches at the Forum. About 400 people attended the Opening Ceremony, including H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre, and Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam to China H.E. Mme. Magdalene Teo as well as diplomats from ASEAN Embassies in Beijing.
H.E. Mr. Wang Sanyun congratulated the opening of Lanzhou Fair and warmly welcomed the participation of guests from home and abroad. He said that 2000 years ago, Chinese people and people from countries along the ancient Silk Road had built a bridge of friendship between the east and west. The Belt and Road Initiative brought up by President Xi Jinping had revitalized this thousand-year-old road and it had already become an important region in the global economy which could not be neglected. Gansu has a long history with rich natural resources. It has outstanding advantages for opening up to the outside world and enjoyed the advantages of late development. This session of Lanzhou Fair had a very unique theme and unprecedented scale with about 1300 enterprises, delegations from 32 countries, 4 international organizations and 25 provinces in China including Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan Province. Gansu would be a good host to build a platform for cooperation and development for countries along the Silk Road, deepen cooperation and communication with them so that to serve the national development plan. It would like to be a core player for a Silk Road of culture, green economy, prosperity and harmony.
Mme. Gao Yan said that to build the One Belt and One Road, we should uphold the concept of open and inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win. The region should raise the level of opening up by leveraging its strength in favorable policy and geographic location and to jointly push forward international capacity cooperation. MOFCOM would proactively implement national strategy of One Belt and One Road coordinated cooperation and development. She said that the Ministry would support Lanzhou Fair as always. She hoped that the participants would pay attention to Western China and Gansu and to make full use of Lanzhou Fair to share information, enhance mutual understanding and achieve win-win and common development.
H.E. Mr. Vuthichai Duangratana said that Thailand was very glad to be the Guest of Honor for this session of Lanzhou Fair. He spoke highly about Thailand-China relations and commented that the relations had been developed soundly and steadily. The leaders from both sides visited each other frequently and all-round exchange was going widely and deeply. Since the establishment of CAFTA, the economic and trade relations were stepping forward even quickly. Bilateral trade volume increased by 2800 folds to 70 billion USD in 2015 compared with 250 million USD in 1975 when the diplomatic tie was just established. China is Thailand’s largest exporting market and second largest source of import. Thailand is the second largest trading partner of China in ASEAN. China has become Thailand’s largest in-bound tourists source country. As the ASEAN Economic Community had been established, mutually beneficial cooperation between ASEAN and China would be further deepened. Lanzhou was an important commercial hub on the Silk Road with long history and had played an important role in cultural exchange between the east and west. He wished that Thailand could further enhance economic and trade cooperation with China’s northwest parts by participating in the Lanzhou Fair.
Secretary-General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Rashid Alimov, Deputy Executive Director of China Center for International Economic Exchanges Mr. Zhang Xiaoqiang, Chairman of the Parliment’s Economic Policy and Industrial and Commercial Enterprises Committee of Azerbaijian Mr. Ziyad and UNIDO Managing Director Philippe Scholtes said in their speeches that Gansu has a very important geographical location, and enjoys advantages for constructing the Belt and Road initiative. Lanzhou Fair has brought new opportunities for Gansu’s foreign exchange and social and economic development. They wished to have further contact and communication with Gansu, to enhance business matching and seek for common business opportunities.
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