Chengdu, a megacity in western China, will soon hold a business promotion event in Moscow, under the theme "Openness and Cooperation, Win-Win Opportunity for Countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt."
The event aims to support the implementation of China's Belt and Road initiative and opening up policy as well as assist Chengdu's transformation into western China's international gateway city and a pioneer for the country's opening up in the inland region. In addition, it will promote in-depth cooperation between Chengdu and Russia in such fields as trade, investment and cross-border e-commerce.
As the key part of the event, the Chengdu Trade, Logistics and Tourism Promotion 2018 and Signing Ceremony will be held on August 24 in Moscow, where nearly 200 representatives, from the Embassy of China in Moscow, the Moscow government, the municipal government of Chengdu, Russian business associations and companies mainly engaged in import/export, logistics and travel as well as Chengdu-based firms will discuss the cooperation opportunities.
The event will mainly promote business opportunities in Chengdu's commerce and trade, travel and tourism, conventions and exhibitions as well as the Chengdu-Europe freight train services.
Connected by the China-Europe Block Train, Qingbaijiang Railway Port in the Chengdu Pilot Free Trade Zone has built a cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone focused on railway port services.
During the event, companies based in Chengdu and Russia are scheduled to sign cooperation agreements for several projects.
For the first time, the event will collaborate with a Russian online platform that supplies commodities manufactured in China, providing Russian consumers with a wide range of high quality and affordable products made in Chengdu and other regions of Sichuan province.
In addition, cross-border e-commerce and foreign trade companies from Chengdu will inspect the products made in Russia, so as to boost mutual trade.
Backed by partnerships with cross-border e-commerce platforms in countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt, products made in Chengdu will become much more widely available around the globe, said the event organizer.
With the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative, direct flights and cargo block trains have been launched between Chengdu and Russia, linking the two sides more closely in economic, trade and cultural exchange and cooperation.
In 2017, foreign trade between Chengdu and Russia reached 3.45 billion yuan (US$504.3 million), growing 77.3 percent year-on-year. Currently, 19 Russian-funded companies have established a presence in Chengdu, backed by 1.01 million dollars in investment.