Foshan hopes to win friends in German health sector

Roadshow promotes city to potential new partners

China and Germany have taken steps to work closely on delivering regional healthcare services after the Chinese city of Foshan's global roadshow made its first stop in the German city of Mainz on Tuesday.

The event coincided with the First Sino-German Health Industry Conference, which attracted more than 200 attendees including government officials, experts, scholars and 70 entrepreneurs in the fields of biomedicine, medical equipment and health management from both countries.

Foshan is a city in the southeastern coastal province of Guangdong, and the roadshow is a promotion event planned in response to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, to promote awareness of plans for development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay area.

It aims to further expand foreign exchanges and cooperation, as well as to better promote Foshan globally as a potential investment destination.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Deputy Mayor of Foshan Municipal Government Zhao Hai, said "Foshan and Mainz are both members of the Sino-German Industrial City Alliance, and it's great to see both city governments are creating the platform to help businesses develop opportunities on specific industry."

Foshan has a population of about 80 million, and in 2018 had a total output value of more than 993 billion yuan ($148 billion), accounting for 15 percent of the total GDP of the province, and ranking it sixth among Chinese major and medium-sized cities.

"Foshan is deeply involved in international cooperation and is committed to building a world-class Bay Area and a world-class city group," Zhao said.

"Taking this as an opportunity, Foshan will further expand its opening up to the outside world, continuously strengthen friendly cooperation and exchanges with various countries and regions in the world."