B&R forum begins to global fanfare

Through decades of opening-up and economic growth, the capital has been working to achieve win-win solutions for all

Beijing has attracted increasing attention from across the world as it prepares to host an international gala relating to the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, held from May 14 to 15, is the highest-level international meeting since the open and inclusive initiative was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013.

As the national capital, Beijing has been actively involved in the establishment of the Belt and Road Initiative over the past three years, in a bid to better serve China's reform and opening-up policy, further promote economic and trade cooperation and investment, boost the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and strengthen exchange of personnel and culture.

The city's bilateral trade volume totaled $1.02 trillion from 2014 to 2016 and outbound direct investment reached $37.35 billion.

Beijing has focused on improving its service capabilities in recent years, aiming to guarantee the smooth progress of major international events such as the Belt and Road forum and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum.

It has provided high-quality services to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund to facilitate their operations in Beijing, and attracted a group of international organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Boao Forum for Asia to locate their headquarters there.

Construction on several key international facilities including the newly built China International Exhibition Center and the Yanqi Lake International Convention Center, has been completed.

Internationalization of public service systems covering education, healthcare and social security has also been undertaken.

Beijing has been working to establish long-term pragmatic cooperation with regional governments. It has established sister-city relations with 54 cities in 49 countries, including 19 capitals of countries along the Belt and Road routes.

It has reinforced cooperation with major cities in the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor and last year hosted a promotional event for the Republic of Buryatia in Russia.

A total of 65 projects were highlighted in the event, covering fields such as tourism, logistics, agriculture and mineral resources. Beijing-based civil organizations such as the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce have also been encouraged to further conduct overseas services.

Those organizations already signed cooperation agreements with 184 business associations and trade promotion agencies in 74 countries and regions, and set up 36 non-public economic development bases in countries along the routes to provide legal, security and economic consulting services to Chinese companies.

Based on the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Beijing supports companies in these regions in developing and expanding their overseas market presence by organizing related trade fairs.

An investment fair to promote pragmatic cooperation between companies in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and strengthen economic ties with Hong Kong, as well as areas along the routes, was held in November last year, with 30 cooperative projects from more than 10 countries issued, attracting representatives from more than 150 companies. In addition to financial cooperation, the Belt and Road Initiative also focuses on cultural exchange.

Beijing has hosted temple fairs for several years in Finland and Estonia to showcase the city's folk customs and cultural heritage.

It also set up an art fund in June last year to support the spread of Belt and Road-themed shows and other performances that are in line with national diplomatic strategies. It plans to invest 500 million yuan ($72.46 million) in five years.

To date, the fund has received more than 83 million yuan and sponsored 97 projects.

The city has also increased personnel and cultural exchanges through tourism and educational cooperation.

In 2012, Beijing and other major international cities formed the World Tourism Cities Federation to make it easier for people to vacation abroad.

The alliance now comprises 182 members from 121 famous tourist cities worldwide and is working on constructing a Belt and Road tourism corridor based on 73 countries and regions along the routes. The city has encouraged local colleges, universities, scientific research institutes and companies to cooperate with their counterparts in countries along the routes to train more high-quality international professionals.

It has also encouraged promotion of traditional Chinese medicine, especially in European countries.

It established a related industrial park in Catalonia, Spain, covering an area of 15,000 square meters.

The park includes a hospital of TCM with 200 beds, a TCM research institute and a TCM cultural communication center. Beijing Friendship Hospital and Beijing Children's Hospital have carried out cooperation projects with medical institutions in Pakistan and Russia respectively to boost technical communication and share medical resources.

Beijing has hosted the China International Technology Transfer Convention since 2011, which has attracted a total of 13,000 corporate and institutional representatives from more than 40 countries and regions.

The six sessions resulted in contracts for nearly 140 projects being signed, with combined value exceeding 60 billion yuan.

In 2016, the city contracted construction of the ASEM Cooperation Center for Science Technology and Innovation in Europe, establishing ties with related agencies in more than 20 member states of the Asia-Europe Meeting.

To better help Chinese companies to implement their "going global" strategy, Beijing has innovated a financial service platform for small and medium-sized businesses for exports.

The platform, launched in October 2016, integrates banks, credit insurance and government guarantees. It has so far supported six projects with $3.05 million in financing.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/14/2017 page27)