Exclusive Meeting with the Foreign Affairs Office of Chongqing Municipal People’s Government
2019-04-12 | Southwest China
On 12th April, European Chamber Southwest China Chapter Vice Chair Mr Dominik Widmer, together with chapter board members and member representatives, attended an exclusive meeting with Mr Li Qian, the new director general of the Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) of Chongqing Municipal People’s Government.
After a brief opening speech by Ms Sally Huang, general manager of the Southwest Chapter, Mr Widmer presented the Southwest China Position Paper 2018/2019 to the FAO officials. Mr Eric Huan, board member and lead pen of the paper, then introduced the key recommendations of the Southwest China Position Paper.
After the presentation, DG Li Qian also addressed the meeting. He expressed the importance the FAO places on the recommendations from the position paper. He went on to review Chongqing’s foreign investment development in 2018, highlighting different aspects that confirmed the opening up of the region. DG Li said in 2018 the total volume of Chongqing foreign trade imports and exports increased by 16% compared with 2017 trade. DG Li added that foreign direct investment in Chongqing for 2018 hit Chinese yuan (CNY) 3.36 billion, ranking No.1 in Midwest China. Meanwhile, Chongqing’s international shipping volumes reached 146,000 tonnes to also rank top. DG Li then shared another set of data on the attractiveness of Chongqing to foreign enterprises: This data showed that, by the end of 2019, all the international "Big Four" accounting firms will have a presence in Chongqing, while 18 foreign banks will also have branches in the municipality. All indications were that Chongqing had made great progress in 2018.
However, DG Li noted that many problems associated with the opening up process remain in both the business and social local environments. Therefore, the Chongqing government is introducing its Opening-up Strategy in the Future: Promoting Great Development through Opening-up. DG Li said the Chongqing government aims to use this strategy to achieve three goals: building international logistics hubs; optimising the business environment; and enhancing the level of urban internationalisation. In order to achieve these goals, DG Li agreed to actively promote exclusive meetings between the Chongqing Government and the European Chamber, expressing positivity about the potential of the future cooperation. He said, as the first step, he will present the Southwest China Position Paper to the mayor of Chongqing.
A Q&A session rounded out the afternoon, with member representatives asking questions on various topics, including air quality, international logistics, and the art economy.