Qingdao will Build the SCO and the 'Belt and Road' International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs

Recently, the first investment promotion activity during “2020 Central Enterprises’ Trip to Qingdao” - the online press conference for investment attraction of the SCO and the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs was held in the Qingdao International Convention Center. 10 projects for investment attraction of central-local cooperation along the “Belt and Road” were signed online, with a total investment of 42.7 billion yuan, involving infrastructure construction in the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area (hereinafter referred to as the “SCODA”) , headquarters of the trade and finance business of SCO countries, Industrial Internet, high-end biomedicine and other fields.

This event was sponsored by the CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee and Qingdao Municipal Government. At the conference, more than 100 representatives from over thirty central enterprises and the-persons-in-charge of the Ministry of Commerce gathered online with Qingdao to witness the joint release of the investment attraction program for the International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs by Wang Qingxian and Meng Fanli.

Wang Qingxian, member of the Standing Committee of CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and Secretary of CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee, stated in a keynote speech that during the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”, Chairman Xi Jinping had placed high hopes on Qingdao, giving Qingdao the important national mission of building the SCODA and a new platform for international cooperation under the “Belt and Road” Initiative. Chairman Xi required Qingdao to maximize its role as a pivotal city of the New Eurasian Land Bridge Economic Corridor and the fulcrum of maritime cooperation, and vigorously promote the formation of an opening-up pattern of linkage between the land and the sea as well as two-way mutual aid between the East and the West.

Wang Qingxian expressed that the SCO and the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs to be established in Qingdao would be an important platform for the central enterprises and local industries to jointly implement Chairman Xi’s important instructions and serve the national strategy. Also, it would be an innovative practice of both sides to work closely to strengthen foreign economic and trade cooperation and respond to new changes in the global economy. Qingdao will continuously expand and improve the functions of the International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs, and strive to build a platform for central enterprises to communicate and cooperate with local governments and enterprises in SCO countries and the countries along the “Belt and Road”, in a bid to constantly expand the attractiveness, charisma and influence of the Cooperation Hub. It will join hands with central enterprises, follow the tide, ride on the momentum, and gather strengths in a joint effort to build a new platform for international cooperation under the “Belt and Road” Initiative and write a new chapter of central-local cooperation in the new era.

Sherali Jonon, Deputy Secretary-general of the SCO, and Sergey Kanavskiy, Executive Secretary-general of the SCO Business Council, extended their congratulations on the release of the SCO and the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs on behalf of the SCO and the SCO Business Council respectively. They also expressed their willingness to deepen exchanges and cooperation with Qingdao in every respect, and continuously promote new breakthroughs in the construction of the SCODA.

Liu Jianjun, member of the Standing Committee of CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee, Secretary of CPC Jiaozhou Committee, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of the SCODA, and Director of the Administrative Committee of the SCODA, made a detailed interpretation of the construction plan and investment attraction projects of the SCO and the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs, and invited central enterprises to strengthen cooperation with the SCODA in the fields of infrastructure construction, high-end industrial investment, and their economic and trade exchanges with SCO countries and the countries along the “Belt and Road”, and speed up the construction of the “five centers” including the International Logistics Center, the Modern Trade Center, the Bilateral Investment and Cooperation Center, the Commerce, Tourism and Cultural Exchange Center, and the Maritime Cooperation Center.

According to the interpretation, the construction of the SCO and the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs in the SCODA aimed to build into a platform for central enterprises to support the construction of the SCODA, and a platform for central enterprises to interact and exchange with SCO countries and the countries along the “Belt and Road”. Taking the SCODA as a carrier to maximize the advantages of central enterprises, it will gradually develop into an international exhibition platform for central enterprises to showcase their new technologies, new standards and new models. This will serve to achieve information sharing and resource complementation between central enterprises and the countries along the "Belt and Road" and SCO countries, promote the integrated development of central enterprises and local industries, and build strategic emerging industrial clusters, thus promoting the agglomeration of central enterprises’ talents, information, technologies, capital and other elements in the SCODA, and helping the SCODA achieve high-quality, fast-tempo, and leap-forward development.

The launch ceremony of the SCO and the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs was held on site. Wang Qingxian and Meng Fanli jointly released the investment attraction program for the Cooperation Hub on the official website of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council.

It was reported that a range of activities were successfully held last year during the “four-season trip of Qingdao” tailored for central enterprises. Totally 66 projects were signed, with a total investment of more than 170 billion yuan. Among them, 11 were signed for the “Autumn Trip” themed “meeting in the SCODA,” with a total investment of 32.9 billion yuan. This helped to boost the quick-paced construction of the SCODA.