The city of Qingdao, Shandong province, saw the opening of an International Chamber of Commerce for the Private Sector, on Sept 29, with Du Bo, board chairman of the Guoqing Holding Group, chosen as its first president and announcing in his address to the ceremony that this is a move to encourage private enterprises in the eastern coastal city to cooperate more abroad.

The C-of-C will assist member companies with international endeavors to help them grow stronger, Du went on to say.

The new C-of-C is the brainchild of the Qingjian Group, which will put 50,000 yuan ($8,245) in capital into it, as required by Chinese law, along with start-up funds. By mid-June, the C-of-C had already had 31 member enterprises and was ready to open. More than 70 of its members attended the launch ceremony.

Xu Hang, chairman of the Qingdao Federation of Industry and Commerce, told the meeting that the new organization is expected to gradually establish a communications platform to inform the government of petitions from other chambers of commerce and enterprises, and with other government departments and seek policy support in funding and services,

Xu went on to urge it to focus on providing its members with custom-made services, such as investment and financing and conferences and exhibitions and that it should improve its services and influence abroad by cooperating with international organizations, such as the China-Africa Joint Chamber of Commerce and China-Africa Development Fund.

He added that it should help its members deal with any difficulties, risks and challenges they encounter in international endeavors, and provide complete, accurate economic and trade information in a timely fashion, and help them find better trade and investment opportunities.

Xu concluded by saying that it should work hard to find projects and get favorable policies for its members, and by helping them choose the right projects, and providing follow-up services and urged it to improve its Party building and make full use of the the Party’s role in “going international”.