By Rui Hu, iChongqing News, Video by Deng Zhang

On April 24th, iChongqing conducted an exclusive interview with Nobuyuki Watanabe, the new Consul General of Japan in Chongqing at the Consulate office. Mr. Watanabe recently came to Chongqing to start his new journey as Consul General of Japan. “The first time I have been to Chongqing was in 1986, it was totally different compared to it nowadays” Nobuyuki introduced.

Nobuyuki Watanabe, Consul General of Japan in Chongqing

Impressed by the new face of Chongqing
Nobuyuki has visited the Three Gorges in 1987. “I admired the natural views of the Three Gorges, but there were fewer cars, narrow roads, and many slopes in the city. People live in a plain lifestyle while I saw them in 1980`s”, Nobuyuki said. “I also visited Chongqing in 2010 on business purpose, I remember Jiefangbei had been developed eventually, the city roads are becoming more modern. However, the third time I came to Chongqing was about a week ago, at this time, this city totally subverted my impression. In nowadays, Chongqing has really tall buildings, people are wearing colorful clothes and have a real diversity of lifestyles” he introduced.

Moreover, when asking about the vision of southwest China`s development, he indicated that Chongqing has become the core city on the Belt & Road Initiative, “it is understood this area`s GDP is growing rapidly, so it has real potential in economic development” he added.

300,000 visas issued last year
The Consulate General of Japan in Chongqing covered Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Chongqing for visa applications. “A lot of travelers are willing to go to Japan” Nobuyuki introduced to us proudly, “last year, there are 8 million people visited Japan, and this is the highest record. In this year, the number is hoped to increase. We had issued 300,000 visas last year.”

Furthermore, Chongqing has a friendly relationship with Hiroshima for more than 30 years. Nobuyuki indicated that he will keep the local city’s exchange program ongoing. 2019 is the year of Youth Exchange between Japan and China. “For this understanding, many exchange programs will be implemented through this year.” Therefore, he hoped more exchange programs could be implemented in order to encourage more young people to get to know about Japan, and more Japanese youth know about China, Nobuyuki added to this point.

Nobuyuki wants to enhance the economic cooperation between Chongqing and Japan by informing more Japanese to know about Chongqing`s investment environment. According to Nobuyuki, there are 160 Japanese enterprises and about 360 Japanese live in Chongqing, they play a crucial role and delivery message to other Japanese businessmen. Besides, the cultural exchange and tourism exchange are important as well.

As Asia300 Global Forum Chongqing Summit is coming next month, Nobuyuki indicated that will be an important opportunity for both Chongqing and Asian enterprises.