Chongqing- Preparations are currently in full swing as the 3rd Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT) approaches, a major conference set to be held in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality from May 20-23rd.
Originally named the China Chongqing International Investment and Global Sourcing Fair, Chongqing has undergone more than 20 years of development since it became a municipality directly under the administration of the central government.
In 2018, the event was upgraded to a national-level exhibition, with the first of two WCIFIT conferences successfully held that year and in 2019. This upgrade has presented a new business card for the opening up of inland regions for international trade and investment.
The past two sessions of WCIFIT have attracted thousands of multinationals and tens of thousands of high profile business figures (iChongqing file photo)
Inland China stands at the forefront.
On the afternoon of March 30th this year, Guangxi dispatched the first cold chain logistics rail service for seafood on the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in western China (ILSTC). The freight train loaded with eight refrigerated containers gently departed from Fangchenggang Station and arrived at Chongqing Jiangjin Xiaonanye Station within three days.
As the process of opening up pioneer gathers pace and construction of outbound passages heading north, east, south, and west takes shape, supermarkets of Chongqing are being stocked with ever more foreign products at affordable prices, while the delivery of goods has never been as swift.
The WCIFIT has propelled central and western regions to their new stature at the forefront of reform, opening up, investment promotion, and exchange in economics and trade, as Chongqing has developed into a seamless connection point for the Belt and Road and Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The WCIFIT platform has brought the world closer through smooth logistics, trade promotion, and the gathering of industries. A great number of products from ASEAN, Belt and Road nations, Europe, and the United States have entered the markets of Chongqing and the western region as a result.
According to statistics from Guangxi Province, a total of 10,000 freight trains have been dispatched on the NILSTC as of April 28th, 2021. Thus, while the first 5,000 departures took place over three years, it has taken less than a year to double that figure.
Chongqing has successfully established a GWP (Gross world product) direct supply platform, and airports have launched a joint inspection mechanism for one-stop customs release. This has not only facilitated the access of inland consumers to global products but has also deepened the sense of quality living and gain from the process of reform and opening up.
WCIFIT has provided a new open business card for Chongqing that will offer domestic consumers a greater variety of overseas products and a high-quality lifestyle. Above: Vespa motorcycles imported from Italy on display at the Sino-Swiss Industrial Park in Chongqing. (iChongqing/ James Alexander)
WCIFIT a springboard for going global
Western provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities have jointly deliberated the exploration of new markets and business opportunities through the WCIFIT platform, which allows for progression in exhibitions, sourcing, and investment.
The 2018 WCIFIT event saw the participation of 291 World Fortune 500 companies and 64 domestic government delegations, and 120 foreign and domestic business associations.
A year later, delegations from Hungary and Uruguay were international guests of honor at the 2nd WCIFIT conference, while the domestic provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou, and Shaanxi were honorary guests.
It was this opening ceremony of WCIFIT where the people's governments of Chongqing, Guangxi, Guizhou, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Ningxia, and Shaanxi signed a joint agreement to build the ILSTC.
This agreement officially marked the inclusion of Shaanxi Province into the ILSTC cooperation mechanism and expanded the circle of friends to nine western provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. This has resulted in their deeper cooperation with ASEAN and has solidified foundations in the Belt and Road initiative.
In past WCIFIT sessions, exhibition areas have been set up for regional, international, and ILSTC cooperation, thus forming a professional environment to seek new business partners, expand friend circles, and push cooperation to a new level.
Statistics show that 109 key projects with a total investment value of 338.408 billion yuan were signed at the 1st WCIFIT, while the 2nd WCIFIT yielded 271 domestic and foreign projects with a total contractual value of 549.78 billion.
WCIFIT a new business card for the western region
The past two WCIFIT conferences have attracted thousands of multinational companies and tens of thousands of global business figures. The signed foreign investment projects have spanned various industries and fields, injecting great momentum into transforming and developing inland regions in China.
According to the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, following 20 years of cultivation and development, the WCIFIT has become an important window for opening up to the world, plays a leading role as a platform for opening up in mainland China, and is an important carrier for promoting a new round of high-quality opening up in the western region.
In recent years, national strategies such as new-era development of the western region and Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, the WCIFIT has been able to deepen cooperation with neighboring provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities.
These have highlighted the overall strategy of opening up industries in the western region, the status quo in production and investment demand, and the urgent need for cooperation in the western region to attain a fast but stable rate in the process of opening up.
WCIFIT participants have achieved positive results in international and domestic investment and trade cooperation, a feat that has been made possible through exhibitions displaying advantages of the investment environment, policies, projects, and corporate products in the western region.
These have combined to effectively promote the construction of Chongqing as an open inland highlands in the western region, and WCIFIT aims to inject further impetus for Chongqing to present a new open business card to the outside world.