The first Zhanjiang-ASEAN Agriculture Trade Fair kicked off at the Zhanjiang International Convention and Exhibition Center on June 2. Being the first event of its kind in Zhanjiang, the city's government has attached great importance to the fair. Below is a transcript of Zhanjiang Mayor Wang Zhongbing's speech at the opening ceremony.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to the seaside city of Zhanjiang. The Zhanjiang-ASEAN Agriculture Trade Fair is one of the three exhibitions that the city will hold this year. Late in the month, we will host the 2016 China (International) Aquatic Products Expo and in the second half of this year, we will open the 2016 China Ocean Economy Expo. All of these are significant events that we are carrying out based on our development of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing and are based on the efforts toaccelerate pivot city development along the Belt and Road Initiative for Zhanjiang.

Zhanjiang and most ASEAN countries are only separated by the sea. The economic and trade cooperation and the cultural exchanges between Zhanjiang and ASEAN have a profound history, from the ancient Maritime Silk Road 2,000 years ago to the 21st century Maritime Silk Road. During the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), during the deep adjustment of the global economy, the annual growth of bilateral trade between Zhanjiang and ASEAN reached 18.6 percent. On April 19, the sugar factory that Zhanjiang Hengfu Sugar Group invested in in Cambodia went into operation. It is the largest-scale sugar factory in Asia and the largest foreign-funded enterprise in Cambodia. Zhanjiang and ASEAN have become important trading partners. The cooperation between the two parties is a natural result of the geographic connections and a necessity to consolidate and upgrade our economic and trade ties.

Zhanjiang and ASEAN are both famous production bases for tropical fruit. Zhanjiang is a leading city in the cooperation with ASEAN and a key base of agricultural industrialization in Guangdong province. Zhanjiang has a wide variety of local specialties, such as fruits, fresh produce, sea food and pearls. It is an important source for farm produce trading from from South to North in China, the hometown of tropical fruits and China’s capital of sea food.

One of Zhanjiang's keys strengths is its port. It has the largest natural deepwater port in Southwest China and boasts the shortest distance from coastal areas on the Chinese mainland to ASEAN country members. The city was recently approved by the central government to import fruit. By hosting the Zhanjiang-ASEAN Agriculture Trade Fair, we want to spread the theme of agricultural innovation and green industry to the world, establish an agricultural trade platform with the lowest logistic cost, help more Chinese agricultural enterprises go global and bring in more agricultural products from ASEAN countries to the Chinese market. Our goal is to develop Zhanjiang into a platform for international agricultural cooperation and the best port for fruit imports into the Chinese mainland market.

Ladies and gentlemen, Zhanjiang is an attractive seaside city and warmly welcomes visitors from across the world. This is currently the hottest time of year in Zhanjiang so take care of yourselves. You can enjoy the seafood and the beautiful coastal views in the city. In addition to hundreds of ASEAN participants, dozens of representatives from leading agricultural enterprises in Guangdong province will also attend the fair, showing off their latest technologies and products, and I’d like to send my sincere gratitude to them.

Finally, I am sure that the 2016 Zhanjiang-ASEAN Agriculture Trade Fair will be a great success! I hope you all have a great time in this beautiful city of Zhanjiang. Thank you!