Gala opens to bolster Anhui's manufacturing

Region to seize opportunities in revolution of world economy

The World Manufacturing Convention 2018, dubbed "an unprecedented event with the greatest significance and the largest scale" in the history of Anhui, opens on Friday, aiming to deepen the manufacturing ties between the province and the outside world.

The three-day gala, running alongside the 2018 China Investment and Trade Expo for Anhui held in the provincial capital of Hefei, is expected to draw more than 4,000 participants from 75 countries and regions, including those involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Foreign dignitaries, including former German president Christian Wulff and former United Nations secretary-general Ban Kimoon will attend the event, along with Li Xiaolin, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and other Chinese officials and business leaders.

For Anhui, Party chief Li Jinbin and Governor Li Guoying will serve as directors to guide the Organizing Committee and Executive Committee for the event, which is co-sponsored by the Anhui provincial government, CPAFFC, United Nations Industrial Development Organization and Global Alliance of SMEs.

According to Cao Longcan, deputy director of the Party committee's publicity department in Anhui, by adhering to the country's urge for innovation and manufacturing upgrading, the event will meet the dual task of luring outside investors as well as promoting a going-global strategy.

It aims to build a platform for cooperation among advanced manufacturing industries, while focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative.

According to co-organizer Global Alliance of SMEs, the conference will address the new industrial revolution in the world and create a global industrial chain in the eastern Chinese province, by inviting industrial experts from Germany, China, the United States and Japan to offer views on better linking Anhui's advanced manufacturing sector with its foreign peers.

"The core of building a modern economic system in Anhui lies in the real economy, whose focus and wayout is in the manufacturing industry," said Niu Nutao, director of Anhui Provincial Economic and Information Commission.

Only a robust manufacturing industry can help the province, which has a population of 70 million living in 16 prefecture-level cities, to become stronger, he said.

Liu Jun, president of Lenovo's China business arm, said Hefei is rapidly transforming into a high-end manufacturing production base, and that the local government is working very hard to build a pro-business environment.

Its rise reflects how a city in East China has pounced on opportunities to grow.

The Beijing-based computer company has a 170,000 square-meter smart factory in Hefei, whose annual production capacity has hit 30 million units of personal computers. That is to say, the plant produces more than 50,000 units of PCs daily.

According to Global Alliance of SMEs, the convention is expected to usher in 10 types of achievements, aiming to serve Anhui's advanced manufacturing. These include a Hefei Declaration for Global Manufacturing, the cooperation pairing between the city of Aachen in Germany and Hefei, and the city of Angers in France and the city of Wuhu. Additionally, there will be the launch of a design museum in Hefei, the establishment of a Sino-German Industrial Cooperation Fund and the German Industry 4.0 (Hefei) Cooperation Promotion Center, as well as the Metalysis3D Printed Metal Powder Manufacturing Center in Hefei.

Meanwhile, the World Smart Manufacturing Development Report and the China Manufacturing Development Report will be released during the meeting, alongside the establishment of a Belt and Road Business School and International Talent (China) Sharing Platform in Hefei, according to the Global Alliance of SMEs.

(China Daily 05/24/2018 page18)