Hangzhou Daily (Journalist He Qufei, Correspondent Zhou Fang)—The “Hangzhou Private Enterprises and Countries along the Belt and Road” Business Match-making Seminar 2020 and the Consulate Officials and Hangzhou Private Entrepreneurs Exchange Meeting was held in Hangzhou in September 5. Mr. Pan Jiawei, Chairman of the Hangzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference addressed the conference and Mr. Wang Lihua was also present.

Nearly 50 envoys in China and representative of business organizations from 26 countries, including 1 ambassador, 8 consul generals, and 6 deputy consul generals, attended the event at invitation. They had business matchmaking and exchanges with over 70 representatives of private enterprises in Hangzhou. Seven representatives of Croatia, Ethiopia, Germany, Indonesia, Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland delivered promotional speeches. Representatives of Holley Group and Hengyi Group, two private enterprises in Hangzhou, also made speeches for enhancing the communication.

Mr. Pan Jiawei extended a warm welcome to guests from other countries, representatives of organizations and entrepreneurs. He said that the great “Belt and Road Initiative” has been mapped out and promoted by President Xi Jinping personally and become a new path for countries around the world to have win-win cooperation and realize common development. As a major city along the Belt and Road, Hangzhou has been proactive in responding the Belt and Road Initiative. It has made active efforts to accelerate a new pattern of full opening-up, promote the integrated development of the China (Hangzhou) Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Area and the eWTP Hangzhou Pilot Area and proactively cooperate with cities along the Belt and Road in businesses and economies, investment, culture and tourism, and health care.

Mr. Pan pointed out that along with the outbreak of the COVID-19 we have never been so conscious that the world is an interconnected global village and a global community of shared future. Currently, it is the right choice to work together to defeat the epidemic. Mr. Pan hopes that consuls, organizations and friends from foreign countries will pay more visits to Hangzhou, promote Hangzhou in their own countries, and have more exchanges with enterprises in Hangzhou. In this way, the open cooperation between Hangzhou and other countries will be furthered, the trust between the two sides enhanced and the common development realized. Enterprises in Hangzhou need to go international and promote the dual-cycle (domestic and international circles) development pattern through the matchmaking seminars, exchange meetings and other platforms as well as the Belt and Road. By this means, they will make greater contributions to building the Belt and Road and the global community of shared future in a better way.

This matchmaking seminar is a major public event of foreign relations sponsored by the Hangzhou Municipal Committee of the CPPCC. It has been held for consecutive 6 years since the first in 2015. Over 150 friends from more than 70 countries and nearly 500 private entrepreneurs in Hangzhou have actively participated in the event.