The presentation of Trade and Economic Multifunctional Platform for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Countries in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area was held in Beijing on April 9. Why does the important platform choose Chongqing? What kind of relationship has been established between Chongqing Liangjiang New Area and SCO?
Serve over 30 SCO member countries
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was founded by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan on June 15, 2001. As twenty years go by, Chongqing and SCO have built up an ever closer bond.
Over recent years, Chongqing has been working to build the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, develop more channels and better platforms for opening up, and establish an open economy.
As of the end of 2020, Chongqing had forged and developed local friendly and cooperative relationships with nearly 30 regions in SCO countries. In 2020 alone, the total foreign trade volume between Chongqing and SCO countries exceeded 32.5 billion yuan (4.96 billion U.S. dollars).
China's first China-Europe freight train route, the Yuxinou (Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe) railway, passes Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, and Germany, with Kazakhstan and Russia being among SCO countries.
Thanks to the freight train route, a much closer relationship between Chongqing and SCO has been forged. On May 16, 2019, the special Yuxinou train for SCO member countries starting from Russia and passing several SCO member countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan arrived at Chongqing.
After a 7,000-kilometer-long journey that took 12 days, 41 containers of woodware and agricultural and sideline products were transported to Chongqing and quickly distributed to other provinces and cities.
Exchange with SCO member countries
As Chongqing strives to develop itself into a leading area of opening-up in China's interior, exchange and interaction between Chongqing and SCO member countries have grown even more frequent and closer.
Rashid Alimov, the Secretary-General of SCO, was invited to Chongqing to attend the opening ceremony and other activities of the first Smart China Expo from August 22 to 23 in 2018.
Mr. Alimov said in an interview that Chongqing has become a key place linking SCO member countries for development and cooperation. SCO remains active in supporting and pursuing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
He thinks, Chongqing as a link between the BRI and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, is working actively to build the BRI in all respects. Therefore, the cooperation between Chongqing and SCO member countries provides development opportunities and offers a win-win scenario.
The SCO Heads of Region Meeting opened in Chongqing on May 14, 2019, one of the highest-grade international conferences held in the city since Chongqing became a municipality. This meeting has deepened the cooperation between Chongqing and SCO member countries in customs clearance, logistics, security, and other fields, focusing on the construction of China Railway Express (Yuxinou) and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC).
A picture of China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing-Xinou-Europe). (iChongqing file photo)
Vladimir Norov, the current Secretary-General of SCO, attended and addressed the 2019 Smart China Expo on August 26, 2019. In his speech, he pointed out that Chongqing is an important city in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and a key hub city along the Belt and Road and a bridge for SCO member countries and ASEAN countries to promote cooperation and exchange.
Chongqing municipal leaders attended the First SCO Heads of Region Forum in October 2020. On the occasion, participating parties reached a new consensus on strengthening exchange and cooperation in foreign trade, digital economy, transportation, logistics, modern manufacturing and service, international MICE and culture, promoting international cooperation in fighting against COVID-19 and advancing economic and social recovery and development.
At present, more than 1,000 overseas students from SCO member countries are studying in Chongqing, and the number of mutual visits has exceeded 100,000.
Build the trade and multifunctional economic platform
The Trade and Economic Multifunctional Platform for the SCO Countries jointly built by the SCO Business Council, Chongqing Liangjiang New Area, and other parties was officially located in Liangjiang New Area was displayed at the SCO Pavilion during the 2019 Smart China Expo.
Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area aims to build high-standard international innovation cooperation carriers. (iChongqing file photo)
The Trade and Economic Multifunctional Platform for the SCO Countries was officially settled at Chongqing Liangjiang International Cooperation Center in September 2020.
Through the platform, the fields where countries, regions, and cities along the Belt and Road share common interests can be expanded, and the interconnection among SCO member countries and surrounding regions in such fields as economy and trade, investment, science, and technology, culture, tourism as well as education can be realized.
According to a relevant head from SCO, the platform will take the modern connectivity and the new local economic cooperation mode under the BRI as development tasks and provide global supply chain integration services in the international presence and economic and trade cooperation for local industries of SCO member countries.