WEST CHINA'S CHONGQING LIANGJIANG NEW AREA LEVERAGES TIES WITH SCO FOR GREATER OPENING-UP

CHONGQING, China, Apr. 13, 2021 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/--

The promotion meeting of Chongqing Liangjiang New Area-Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Countries Trade and Economic Multifunctional Platform was held in Beijing on April 9, according to Chongqing Liangjiang New Area Management Committee. This is a concrete action to implement the spirit of the 20th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the SCO and is of great significance to the success of the China-SCO Digital Economy Industry Forum.

In September 2020, the Trade and Economic Multifunctional Platform for the SCO Countries was officially settled in Chongqing Liangjiang International Cooperation Center. It is a multi-field and multi-functional platform for international cooperation and exchange centering on economic and trade work.

Chongqing plays a special role in expanding cooperation in the SCO region, according to Vladimir Norov, secretary-general of the SCO. The convening of this promotion meeting has brought more possibilities for the development of SCO member states, and the SCO are willing to strengthen communication with Chongqing and Liangjiang New Area to jointly promote inter-regional cooperation in various fields, he added.

Chongqing is the only municipality directly under the administration of the central government in western China and is an important national central city with prominent geographical advantages and an important strategic position.

In recent years, Chongqing has been actively promoting the joint development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It is seizing strategic opportunities such as the development of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, and is making good use of the SCO local leaders meeting mechanism to promote inland opening-up, and sees a strong momentum of high-quality growth.

The platform is an important carrier to strengthen economy and trade cooperation between China and the SCO, according to a senior official of Chongqing. The event is expected to improve the level of interconnection, economic and trade cooperation, as well as platform development, to comprehensively deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and to promote the construction of the platform to achieve new results.

The promotion meeting also included an overall promotion of Liangjiang New Area. The basic positioning of the new area is to build an inland open gateway and a smart city. The main development goal is to build a high-quality development leading area and a high-quality living demonstration area.

The new area will continue to strengthen cooperation with the SCO and BRI countries in terms of transportation, logistics, economy and trade, industry and cultural exchanges. It is expected to build an ecology for multilateral cooperation to achieve joint effort, mutual promotion, extensive consultation and shared benefits, and to build a cooperation pattern rooted in China, linked with ASEAN and open to the world.

Chongqing Liangjiang New Area plays as an important strategic fulcrum in China's Western Development Strategy and is located at the core area of the junction of the BRI and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It has the pivotal advantage of linking Central Asia, EU, ASEAN and Asia-Pacific markets.

In recent years, the new area has established an opening-up system extending in all directions and a modern industrial system represented by automobiles, electronics, high-end equipment, biomedicine and modern service industry. A total of 160 Fortune 500 enterprises have settled in Liangjiang, with more and more international organizations, associations and multinational enterprises joining the investment and settlement campaign in the new area.

For more information, please visit : http://www.liangjiang.gov.cn/

Source: Chongqing Liangjiang New Area Management Committee