City set to become intl exchange center

Region expands its influence with numerous official partnerships to emerge as western China's collaborative hub.

Chengdu, a mega city in western China, is looking to deepen communications and cooperation with its sister cities to build itself into a regional center of international exchange.

A media delegation from Chengdu made a trip to its sister cities in Japan and South Korea from Oct 20 to 26 to learn more about both the cities’ cooperation agreements of the past and possible avenues of collaboration in the future.

“When it comes to innovation and entrepreneurship, Chengdu is a very vibrant city that is at the forefront of such efforts in southwestern China,” said Hong Seong-hoa, ambassador for International Relations of Busan, South Korea.

Hong told the delegates that Busan values its cooperative relationship with Chengdu.

The city signed an agreement with Chengdu High-tech Zone to boost industrial cooperation at the end of last year, and a number of companies from Busan have already settled in the high-tech zone.

Hong paid a visit to the zone in June during the 2016 Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair, an international platform promoting the exchange and transaction of innovative ideas and achievements.

He said Chengdu High-tech Zone provides companies with complete infrastructure as well as support in fi elds such as intellectual property protection and talent introduction, which, he added, impressed him greatly.

“Chengdu is the starting point of the Southern Silk Road, while Busan is a port city linking Europe and Asia. The two cities share similar opportunities,” Hong said, as he stressed the importance of deeper ties with Chengdu in the future.

Hong said that, like Chengdu, Busan is planning to build a new airport, which is expected to go into operation by 2025. He expects that Busan will have direct fl ights to Chengdu by that time.

Park Bo-saeng, mayor of Gimcheon, a city located between Seoul and Busan, said he has been amazed by the speed at which Chengdu has developed since the two cities established ties in 1996.

“Chengdu has greatly enlarged its international circle of friends over the years, yet, despite this, its exchanges with Gimcheon have never reduced,” said Park.

The two cities hold at least four exchange activities every year and hold numerous cultural activities, according to Park.

Park was named an Honorary Citizen by the Chengdu city government in June.

“This is a great honor for me. I will work hard to promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation between the two cities,” he said.

Artists from Gimcheon are scheduled to visit Chengdu once again in November, according to the Fine Arts Association of Gimcheon.

In March, the two cities held a symposium on Korean and Chinese pottery culture in Mingyue International Ceramic Arts Village in Chengdu’s Pujiang county.

The Chengdu Mingyue Ceramic Society and the Fine Arts Association of Gimcheon signed an agreement to boost mutual exchanges in ceramic arts and jointly develop the Korean and Chinese ceramics and fine arts markets.

A Gimcheon ceramic arts museum was also opened in the village during the event.

Ties between Chengdu and South Korea have deepened since a South Korean consulate was opened in the city in 2005.

By the end of last year, 179 South Korean companies had invested in Chengdu.

In October 2015, the Chinese and South Korean governments agreed that the two countries would together establish a China-South Korea Innovation and Entrepreneurship Park in Chengdu.

It is hoped that the park will become a landmark project with a global reputation through the collaboration between China’s burgeoning spirit of mass entrepreneurship and innovation and South Korea’s creative economy.

The China-South Korea Innovation and Entrepreneurship Park is being established in the Jingrong International Plaza, as was agreed in April between the Chengdu High-tech Zone and Korea Investment Partners, a venture capital investment company owned by Korea Investment Holdings.

The two sides also agreed to establish a 500 million yuan ($74.8 million) fund to support innovative enterprises and startups.

Top left and top right: Delegates communicate at a forum for Chengdu’s sister cities during the 2016 Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair in Chengdu in June. PHOTOS BY PENG CHAO / CHINA DAILY Above left: A media delegation from Chengdu conducts an interview with Park Bo-saeng, mayor of Gimcheon. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Above right: The Chengdu Mingyue Ceramic Society and the Fine Arts Association of Gimcheon sign an agreement to boost mutual exchanges in ceramic arts. LIU ZHAO / FOR CHINA DAILY