Chongqing- The China—Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Forum on the Digital Economy Industry and the Smart China Expo 2021 (SCE 2021) took place in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality from August 23rd to 25th as a mutual platform to share resources, planning, and integration in the smart industry.
The China—Shanghai Cooperation Organization Forum on the Digital Economy Industry and the Smart China Expo 2021 open in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on August 23rd. The main entrance to the Chongqing International Expo Center. (Photo/ Wang Yiling)
The SCE 2021 continued the established theme of Smart Technology: Empowering Economy, Enriching Life this year. Chongqing has become a permanent venue for holding the SCE.
Enlarging friends' circle
The fourth edition of the SCE has invited altogether 361 foreign leaders, heads of international organizations, renowned experts and scholars, as well as executives of world-leading enterprises, to attend the opening ceremony and relevant forums. They had in-depth discussions on the advanced global theories of the digital economy, share the latest achievements of smart industry technology, and jointly seize the trend and opportunity of digital economy development.
New energy and intelligent connected vehicles exhibited at the Smart China Expo 2021 attract public attention. (Photo/ Smart Roadshow News Center)
There were six forums, five competitions, over a hundred release events, and exhibitions were attended by over 610 enterprises from 31 countries both on and offline.
The extensive participation shows a municipal ever-enlarging friends' circle.
Conferences, exhibitions, competitions, and forums all presented channels for international exchange and cooperation. International guests from political and business communities as well as academia shared their ideas on the event.
International exchange and cooperation
“International cooperation is vital for innovation to flourish.” Wim Geerts, ambassador of the Netherlands to China, said and added, “The development of the digital economy and smart technology has and will increasingly profoundly impact our societies and economies.” At the SCE 2021, China and the Netherlands cooperated with smart cities, factories, smart life, and sports.
At the closing ceremony, Wim Geert, ambassador of the Netherlands to China, delivers a speech via video link at the closing ceremony of the China—SCO Forum on the Digital Economy Industry and the Smart China Expo 2021 on August 25, 2021. (Photo/ Smart Roadshow News Center)
The Smart China Expo 2021 Key Projects Signing Ceremony was held on August 23, where a total of 92 projects worth 252.4 billion yuan (about 38.97 billion U.S. dollars) were signed, covering sectors of intelligent manufacturing, digital economy, science, and technology.
British Consul General in Chongqing Stephen Ellison said in an interview, “This is a major international event in a very, very exciting and advanced area.”The British Department of International Trade brings a strong business delegation to the SCE 2021 for the fourth time, where the size of the British delegation exceeded previous records.
Further opening-up
The SCE 2021 highlighted industrial internet, which brought famous companies such as Mitsubishi Electric, Inspur Group, CISDI, Guangyu Mingdao, and Humi Network together.
As Turing Award Winner John Hennessy put it, the SCE “will bring us to a new frontier” at the main forum on August 23. More than 50 new technologies and achievements have been publicly released for the first time.
The International Dedicated Connectivity (IDC) Forum, as one of the key forums of the SCE 2021, was held on August 23. Josephine Teo, Minister for Communications and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Singapore, said, “This is part of our joint efforts to promote, raise awareness, and explore new use cases for the IDC, connecting trade and new businesses from Chongqing to Singapore, and linking China's western region to ASEAN digitally.”
The proportion of the digital economy to Chongqing's gross domestic product grew from 16% in 2017 to 25.5% in 2020. Chongqing has endeavored to turn itself into a pioneer of opening up in inland China. Statistics showed that Chongqing is home to 296 Fortune 500 companies as of this May.
Sheng Yijun, deputy general manager of Chongqing Fanuc Robotics, a Japanese company based in Chongqing, believes that platforms like the SCE enable companies to communicate more with their customers and know users' demands.