Horticultural expo helps open up the world

The International Horticultural Exhibition 2024 kicked off on Friday in Chengdu, an opening-up highland and international hub in Southwest China's Sichuan province. The event brings together hundreds of top exhibitors and leading companies from more than 30 countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Morocco.

Themed as "Park City, Beautiful Habitat", the expo, which lasts 186 days, emphasizes green, low-carbon, sustainable and inclusive principles, and showcases a wide array of unique florals and horticultural masterpieces from around the world.

In addition to attracting participation from major domestic cities and numerous international cities with friendly ties with Chengdu, the expo has extended a welcome to international and domestic social organizations, industry associations and top institutions, such as research organizations and professional colleges, to further align the latest horticultural technologies, varieties and equipment with the public's cultural demands.

Representatives form Ljubljana, Slovenia, the first foreign capital to establish friendly relations with Chengdu, participated in the opening ceremony and recent Chengdu International Sister Cities Mayors Meeting. Upon arrival in Chengdu on April 25, the Ljubljana delegation visited the Chengdu Opening-up and International Cooperation Center at the Business & Innovation Centre for China-Europe Cooperation, where they engaged in discussions and exchanges with local ecological and environmental companies.

"We are very grateful for the invitation from the Chengdu Opening-up and International Cooperation Center, which has provided us with an opportunity to engage with foreign government organizations," said Zeng Xi, director of the investment and development department of Chengdu Huantou City Management Service, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chengdu Environment Group. "Through this exchange, we discovered many points of convergence between Chengdu Environment Group and Ljubljana in areas such as renewable resources, ecological environmental protection and photovoltaics. We hope to establish effective communication mechanisms with them and further explore cooperation in these sectors."

Ljubljana's deputy mayor, Dejan Crnek, said: "To maintain urban ecology, sustainable transportation is an area in which we seek to cooperate. We are aware of Chengdu's advanced industries in hydrogen-powered vehicles and batteries, and aim to introduce these technologies to enhance urban operational efficiency. The Chengdu companies participating in the matchmaking meeting are all excellent. Upon my return, I will recommend their information to our relevant departments, and I believe there will be opportunities for cooperation. I am delighted to see the Chengdu Opening-up and International Cooperation Center actively building a closer platform for us to engage."

An executive at Sichuan Recyclone Environmental Technology, a high-tech enterprise specializing in the treatment of kitchen waste founded by Chinese Academy of Engineering academician Liu Renhuai, said: "We are very pleased to participate in the government-enterprise matchmaking meeting and engage in discussions with the Ljubljana delegation about green development. We are thankful to the Chengdu Opening-up and International Cooperation Center for providing such an official platform, helping us connect with high-quality overseas resources and boost cooperation with Europe."

On the same day, a delegation from the Ferghana region of Uzbekistan, another of Chengdu's international friendly cooperative cities, visited the center to deepen trade, economic, industrial and cultural and tourism exchanges with local enterprises.

Chengdu Zhiyuanhui Information Technology, which also attended the sister cities' mayors meeting, is a leading tech company empowered by artificial intelligence and big data, concentrating on the development, investment, construction and scenario operation of China's urban digital platform. The company has already pioneered projects in Uzbekistan.

"We began our layout in 2022 and have established cooperation with the Ferghana region of Uzbekistan. In the future, we hope to leverage the advantages of the Chengdu Opening-up and International Cooperation Center to connect with more international resources," said Liu Yong, director of the market development department at Chengdu Shiny Technology, an ecological enterprise of Chengdu Zhiyuanhui. "At the same time, we will bring our business contacts from Uzbekistan to Chengdu, enabling more local Chengdu enterprises to connect with the international market and further deepen bilateral trade cooperation."

Azimjon Komilovich Yuldashev, head of the Ferghana regional chamber of commerce, highly praised Chengdu's business environment and added: "Uzbekistan possesses abundant agricultural, energy and transportation resources. We welcome the Chengdu Opening-up and International Cooperation Center's establishment of a communication and connection platform, which will help more outstanding enterprises to develop in Uzbekistan and foster the growth of Uzbek enterprises in Chengdu."

The center actively initiated targeted communication and contact in advance to establish a friendly exchange platform for Ljubljana, the Ferghana region and Chengdu enterprises before the opening of this year's horticultural expo. "The center has made supporting the World Horticultural Expo a priority, assigning relevant personnel to participate in the reception services for important foreign guests at the opening ceremony. This matchmaking event is a strong measure by the center to facilitate the transformation and landing of the expo's economic and trade resources," said a spokesperson of the center.

The ancient Silk Road has witnessed profound friendship between Eastern and Western countries for thousands of years, and Chengdu, bridging the spatial distance carries on that legacy. Since establishing international friendly city relations with Montpellier, France, and Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1981, it has expanded its international "circle of friends".

Recently, Chengdu established friendly cooperative relations with Tunis, Tunisia. Its number of foreign friendly cooperative cities is now 112, covering five continents. The number of consulates is also an important indicator of a city's degree of openness to the outside world. Since 2021, Nepal, Chile, Spain and Turkiye have opened consulates in Chengdu, with Brazil and Argentina soon to follow. The number of consular institutions in Chengdu has increased to 23, ranking first in the central and western regions.

Currently, with the accelerated pace of global economic recovery and expanding openness of China, Chengdu is taking advantage of opportunities such as the World Science Fiction Convention, the World Horticultural Expo and the Thomas Cup badminton tournament to expand its global influence. It is strengthening practical cooperation with international friendly cities in the fields of trade, sci-tech and culture, while continually bolstering the breadth and depth of international exchanges.