A vital platform for exchanges and trade cooperation, the 17th EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair kicked off at the Business & Innovation Centre for China-Europe Cooperation, or CCEC, in the Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone on Friday.

The fair focused on exchanges and cooperation between China and Europe in areas such as carbon neutrality, new energy, the digital economy, vocational education and the green economy, and strived to boost bilateral economic and trade relations.

Co-hosted by the China Chamber of International Commerce and the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, and co-organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Chengdu Council, the management committee of the Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone and the Chengdu Chamber of International Commerce, the two-day event comprised an opening ceremony, the China-EU Business Forum on Economic and Trade Cooperation, the Second China-EU Geographical Indications Cooperative Conference and other activities.

New highland

With the theme of "Challenge, Opportunity, Integration and Development", the conference attracted more than 600 representatives from EU member-state embassies and consulates in China, the Chinese Mission to the EU, business associations, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, relevant Chinese ministries, provincial governments, European industry clusters and organizations, and Fortune Global 500 companies.

Participants held in-depth discussions on China-Europe cooperation in areas such as open investment, digital economy, geographical indications, technological innovation, dual carbon goals and sustainable development.

Sun Xiao, secretary-general of the China Chamber of International Commerce, said that this year, China-EU high-level exchanges have intensified and the leaders of both sides have reached an important consensus on enhancing mutual trust, deepening pragmatic cooperation and strengthening coordination.

After nearly 20 years of development, the event is not only a platform for communication and exchanges between the Chinese and European business communities, but also a calling card for Chengdu's opening-up to Europe.

"Entrepreneurs from both sides should seize the opportunities to hold comprehensive discussions on how to adapt to development trends, utilize current advantages and promote long-term and in-depth cooperation in private economic and trade fields," he said.

Fu Cong, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, delivered a video speech at the opening ceremony, in which he said: "After years of development, China and Europe have highly complementary advantages in markets, capital and technology, and there is enormous cooperation potential in the fields of digital economy, environmental protection, new energy and artificial intelligence."

He said that Chengdu has been selected as one of the pilot regions for the third round of China-EU regional policy cooperation plans and become a new highland for opening-up and cooperation, strengthening international gateway functions and promoting the inland opening-up strategy.

He hopes that European entrepreneurs will bring back what they have seen and heard at the event to Europe, so that more European entrepreneurs can feel the vitality of China, especially in the western region.

At the main forum of the conference, Zhang Lirong, secretary-general of the China Forum of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, gave a keynote speech titled Strengthening China-EU Economic and Trade Cooperation and Creating a Favorable Business Environment; Fang Dongkui, secretary-general of the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU, shared his insights into the theme of Connecting Europe and Creating Prosperity.

Representatives from BGI, the EU SME Centre and Siemens (China) also shared their interpretations on cooperation in the fields of bioinformatics, green and digital transformation.

As one of the most important investment, trade and technology innovation cooperation events between China and the EU, with the highest participation of EU member states, the widest participation of European companies, and the largest scale of China-EU exchanges, the conference has been held for 16 sessions, attracting more than 12,000 Chinese and European companies.

It has arranged more than 29,130 business matchmaking negotiations and signed 3,211 intended collaboration agreements.