The 15th Annual Meeting of Chongqing Mayor's International Economic Advisory Council (CMIA Annual Meeting) was held online on September 23. Tang Liangzhi, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and Mayor of Chongqing Municipal People's Government, attended and addressed the event under the theme of "Building a Pacesetter of Opening up in Inland China, Improving Internationalization Level of Chongqing." Centering on the theme, 15 advisers from celebrated enterprises worldwide shared experience and ideas and deliberated over plans for cooperation online.
The 15th CMIA Annual Meeting
Ben Keswick, the representative of CMIA and Executive Chairman of Jardine Matheson Holdings, delivered a speech. He said Chongqing attracted global enterprises and organizations to invest and develop here, with its superior location, sound business environment, and great potential. Since the establishment of CMIA, members have been concerned with the city, offering constructive suggestions on its opening-up and development. They witnessed the rapid rise of Chongqing and became its valuable friends. Advisers and guests discussed and exchanged views around the theme, shared experience from domestic and foreign successful cases, and put forward relevant advice. All of these are to boost the high-quality development of Chongqing.
Tang Liangzhi, on behalf of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, Chongqing Municipal People's Government, and Secretary Chen Min'er, welcomed all attendees of the online annual meeting. He also expressed his gratitude for all contributions towards the growth of Chongqing made by advisers and guests. Tang Liangzhi mentioned the strategy of Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle construction, unveiled at the sixth meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs in January 2020 by President Xi Jinping. It asked the Chengdu-Chongqing region to build itself into an economic center, a scientific and technological innovation center, a new pacesetter for reform and opening-up, and a high-quality livable place with national influence. In response to this, Chongqing took on significant missions and embraced great opportunities. Challenged by the unexpected COVID-19 in 2020, the city conscientiously implemented major policy decisions of the CPC Central Committee and State Council, building a solid defense in epidemic prevention and control and resuming work, production, market, business, and study in an orderly manner. As a result, Chongqing welcomed steady economic recovery and witnessed vigorous high-quality development.
The 15th CMIA Annual Meeting
According to Tang Liangzhi, Chongqing is faithfully putting the instructions of President Xi Jinping into practice. It plans development in big-picture terms and with serving the overall situation in mind. Bearing mind the goal to build "Two Centers and Two Places," Chongqing boosts Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle construction, great powers the coordinated development of "one area and two clusters," and tries to make new achievements and breakthroughs in the formation of a new pattern for the Western Development Strategy. Chongqing is dedicated to building an essential economic center with national influence. To achieve this, it expedites the high-quality growth of the manufacturing industry; catalyzes digital industrialization and industrial digitization; accelerates the deeply integrated development of the advanced manufacturing and the modern service industries. Thus, the city can form an important growth pole for high-quality development. Chongqing also devotes itself to building a scientific and technological innovation center with influence all across China. For example, it, following high standards, planned and developed the Western (Chongqing) Science City, which pools cutting-edge innovative resources, consistently optimizes the innovation environment, creates a talent environment pleasing those nearby, and attracting those from afar, strengthens international sci-tech cooperation, and drives innovation-driven development.
Furthermore, Chongqing spares no effort to build a national influential new pacesetter for reform and opening-up. It upgrades opening-up platforms, expands the reaches of channels, and improves the open economy, to lead and encourage opening-up in western China. Meanwhile, Chongqing hammers away at the construction of a nationwide influential high-quality livable place. It makes sustained efforts to revitalize rural areas and alleviate urban areas and actively explore new ways to realize green development. With such efforts, city life can be better and more rural life more appealing. Chongqing will deepen reform and perfect opening-up, in a bid to fulfill the goal set in the slogan, "Journey to New Accomplishments," during its integration into the Belt and Road initiative construction and accelerated building of a pacesetter of opening-up in inland China. CMIA has received 900 odd valuable suggestions from sessions of advisers and contributed 30% to the city's overall foreign investment since its establishment 15 years ago. Enterprises develop well in Chongqing. They supported the city in diverse ways as soon as the outbreak of COVID-19, such as promoting work resumption and assisting the whole industrial chain in reaching design capacity. In a word, these enterprises played a vital role in the city's epidemic prevention and control and economic and social operation. Chongqing sincerely welcomes more and better suggestions on its development, hoping advisers can support, promote and invest in Chongqing as usual, while encouraging more enterprises and organizations to settle down here and fight for a bright future.
Advisers and guests delivered speeches around further improving the open economy development, internationalization, and high-quality development. They freely expressed their opinions, achieving the target of "consultation, socializing, cooperation, and development." The next CMIA Annual Meeting is scheduled to be held in September 2021, announced at this year's meeting, under the theme of "Building Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle: Opportunities and Challenges."