Chongqing - "Hong Kong is the largest source of foreign investment in Chongqing. And we will further promote cooperation between Hong Kong and Chongqing to foster in-depth cooperation in international trade and investment," said Zhao Bing, chairman of Ming De International Holding Group Co., Limited.

Economic and trade cooperation between Chongqing and Hong Kong 

To enhance economic and trade cooperation between Chongqing and Hong Kong in various fields, an investment promotion delegation organized by the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce visited Hong Kong's economic and trade organizations and internationally renowned modern service industry enterprises from March 7th to 11th.

According to Zhao, Hong Kong is an international financial center with rich financial resources, a comprehensive financial system, mature foreign exchange regulatory measures, and sufficient liquidity, which can support stabilizing financial markets. He hopes that Hong Kong, as Chongqing's largest overseas investment destination and an important trade partner, can become a bridge connecting Chongqing to the international market.

As one of the first companies in the Chinese mainland based in Hong Kong, Ming De International Holding Group Co., Limited has established long-term cooperation with central banks, joint-stock commercial banks, foreign banks, and other financial institutions in Hong Kong. The company primarily relies on Hong Kong for international trade, importing staple mineral resources lacking in the mainland and exporting some of Chongqing's characteristic products such as food, spices, and fresh fruit to help small and medium-sized enterprises expand into international markets; Zhao continued.

Increase the capital of Chongqing's international trade 

"We will also leverage Hong Kong's status as an international financial center for specialized financial services such as fundraising, financing, and foreign exchange settlement," said Zhao.

During this visit, Ming De International Holding Group Co., Limited initially reached a cooperation of about USD 70 million with the Bank of East Asia and Hang Seng Bank in trade settlement and cross-border finance.

Additionally, the company plans to increase the capital of its subsidiary in the international trade sector in Chongqing by more than USD 10 million to continue expanding the international influence of staple mineral resources and Chongqing's featured products.

Zhao emphasized that Chongqing is accelerating the construction of the western financial center, and the excellent business environment has benefitted the company. For instance, Ming De International Holding Group Co., Limited has invested in Chongqing, such as Holiday Inn Yangtze Chongqing, Huanghuayuan Jialing River Bridge and Tunnel, and some financial enterprises, with a cumulative return of about 1.8 billion yuan.

Zhao added that the well-developed professional service market is one of Hong Kong's unique strengths. As an international consumption center city, Chongqing should further strengthen exchanges and learn with Hong Kong in the modern service industry.

"We also support more Chongqing enterprises to be listed and financing in Hong Kong and promote Chongqing enterprises to utilize Hong Kong to go to the international market so that more international companies can see the investment opportunities in Chongqing," Zhao said.

(Liu Meihui and Liu Yujing, as interns, also contributed to this report.)