Chongqing - On March 21, Yuan Jiajun, Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Chongqing Municipal Committee, and Hu Henghua, Deputy Secretary of CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and Mayor of Chongqing Municipal People's Government, met with diplomatic envoys from 26 countries and regions.

Senior diplomats from Albania, Luxembourg, Mauritania, Mali, Slovenia, Guinea-Bissau, Algeria, Yemen, Lesotho, Sudan, Botswana, Guinea, and Malta, including 13 ambassadors to China, attended the meeting.

Yuan Jiajun welcomed the diplomats to Chongqing on behalf of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and the Chongqing Municipal People's Government and introduced Chongqing's economic and social development.

He said that Chongqing is the only municipality directly under the central government in western China, with outstanding location advantages, strategic importance, and a complete range of industries, playing a unique and important role in the national and regional development and opening-up pattern.

The city is actively constructing the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, driving the integration of rural, mountainous, and reservoir areas with the development of super-large cities. Chongqing will adhere to ecological priority and green development, comprehensively build a modern socialist new Chongqing, and vigorously create an important growth pole and a new source of power to drive high-quality development across the country.

Chongqing is actively building a modern industrial system, creating two trillion-yuan-level industrial clusters of intelligent connected new energy vehicles and electronic information manufacturing.

Chongqing is vigorously promoting technological innovation, coordinating the promotion of education, science and technology, and talent work, focusing on industrial innovation, and constantly shaping new development momentum and advantages.

Chongqing is making every effort to improve the quality of life, continuously accelerating the construction of infrastructure such as transportation, and improving the level of public services such as medical care and health so that people can have more sense of gain, happiness, security, and identity.

Chongqing's development has benefited from the reform and opening up, and its future development also depends on reform and opening up. The city is fully integrated into the co-construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, accelerating the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. The city will focus on building a comprehensive, multi-level, and wide-ranging pattern of opening up, enhancing the level of open economy development, and accelerating the construction of an inland open highland.

It is hoped that this visit by the diplomatic envoys could deepen cooperation with various countries in economic and trade, industry, culture, education, and tourism, further enhance friendship, and create a better future.

The head of the delegation, Albanian Ambassador to China Selim Belortaja, expressed gratitude for the warm reception in Chongqing and congratulated the city on its remarkable achievements in economic and social development.

He said they were delighted to visit Chongqing, a modern metropolis full of vitality and energy, after the Covid-19 pandemic. The delegates witnessed the beautiful harmony between humanity and nature and experienced the unlimited potential of Chongqing's development. As a hub city, Chongqing plays an important role in constructing the Belt and Road Initiative. They hope to work with all the foreign diplomatic envoys in China to promote and introduce Chongqing more, deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and take practical cooperation to a new level.

Wu Hongbo, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on European Affairs expressed his gratitude to the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and the Chongqing Municipal People's Government for their careful arrangements and thoughtful reception of the diplomatic envoys.

He said that this visit is the first delegation of diplomatic envoys organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the success of the 20th CPC National Congress and the victory of the 2023 Two Sessions, which is significant and far-reaching.

Chongqing has beautiful scenery, outstanding people, and a profound cultural heritage and revolutionary tradition. The impressive achievements in Chongqing's economic and social development have left a deep impression in recent years. He hoped that the envoys could gain a deeper understanding of China's determination to promote reform and opening up, its commitment to sharing the benefits and opportunities of development with the world, and the vivid practice of promoting modernization in Chongqing.

He also hoped that the envoys could promote and introduce Chongqing more and achieve greater results in friendly cooperation between their countries and Chongqing.