Shandong's First Conference of Great Business Partners (CGBP 2018) opens the door to new opportunities

Shandong Province is a land of hospitality for guests from home and abroad.

Following a Shandong global promotion event hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing on September 20, the First Conference of Great Business Partners (CGBP 2018), with the theme of "New Era, New Vision, New Energies, New Confucian Entrepreneurs," took place in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province, from September 28-30. The events have presented the province to the global audience as a land with a long history and splendid culture, as well as a land with a great vitality of reform and innovation.

Liu Jiayi, secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, said at the conference: "Let's work together and cooperate for win-win results in the future." He sincerely called on all the business partners of his province from around the world to cooperate with the local businesses for greater success. Liu's call was very well received by all the participants, who believed that Shandong is at a new starting point for new development opportunities in the global economy.

Seizing Opportunities in Shandong

"We're here for the opportunities in Shandong," said Peter Shanderman, CEO of Angray Medical Group, South Australia, "At this conference, we had a fine opportunity to get together and interact with the entrepreneurs and experts from around the world. We also felt the sincerity of the host government in promoting business cooperation. We're quite interested in the investment environment in Shandong. We're looking at the feasibility of a formal partnership with Zibo City in the fields of medical care and elderly care."

This trip to Shandong has been Shanderman's first tour of China with his wife. The couple was quite impressed by the beautiful scenery of both the urban and rural areas, as well as the hardworking and friendly people in the province. They hope that Australia and China, including the provinces of South Australia and Shandong, will continue to deepen mutual understanding, learn from each other and achieve common prosperity.

A good stage must be set for a good play. Similarly, a big platform has to be built for a big event. Shandong has been designated as China's first national pilot zone for the replacement of old growth drivers with new ones, which has attracted close attention from the business communities of the Hong Kong SAR. Xie Jiung-chuen, executive director of Hong Kong Financial Asset Management Holdings Limited, believes that the replacement of growth drivers has to be supported by the financial industry. As an international financial center, Hong Kong is rich in financial instruments. Financial companies in Hong Kong are ready to participate in the building of the pilot zone in Shandong to achieve win-win results.

The two strategic platforms for rural rejuvenation and building Shandong into a strong maritime province will provide strong support for Shandong's future development. They will also provide a broad stage for outstanding individuals to share resources, start businesses and open up markets.

Li Yanjun, director of the Center for International Business Development (Beijing), had this to say: "So far, the local companies of Laiwu City have invested in projects all over the world. Laiwu entrepreneurs have enjoyed a high reputation for honoring their commitments, which has contributed to solid cooperative relationships with their partners. On that basis, we have to further tap development potential to take the lead in our industries."

Innovation for Quality Development

In this new era, reform and innovation are essential for quality development. The people of Shandong have been known for their courage and bravery. To replace growth drivers for quality development, they are ready to knock down the fence of vested interests and remove systemic obstacles.

"Shandong has achieved leapfrog progress in recent years," commented Bai Nianli, associate analyst at Guangzhou Science and Technology Innovation Commission. "I am very excited to see the transformation from quantity to quality growth in my native province. CGBP 2018 has been a large-scale event with such a large number of high-caliber participants, which fully demonstrates Shandong's efforts in promoting economic development and industrial upgrades. I hope this conference will become a permanent platform for Shandong to interact with its business partners for further cooperation, which will be in the interest of Shandong's development."

CGBP 2018 has been a grand international gathering for common development. Entrepreneurs are the main actors on stage. Chen Baoqi, dean of MBA School at Shandong University of Finance and Economics, believes that the conference has created an atmosphere of innovation and entrepreneurship by stimulating the innovation potential and vitality of entrepreneurs and actively speaking on their behalf.

"The success of CGBP 2018 has built a high-quality platform for the further development of the enterprises in this province," said Chen, "More Shandong enterprises will advance onto the global stage. More high-quality resources will be brought in. The comprehensive quality of local companies will be improved with more vitality and creativity. Eventually, the replacement of growth drivers will be accelerated for sustained and healthy economic and social development in the province."

"CGBP 2018 has played a significant part in the replacement of growth drivers in Shandong Province," observed Zhang Pengfei, president of Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Shandong Province and chairman of Modern United. "It has also played an important role in attracting investment and talents, which will contribute to a new round of high-quality growth in Shandong." Zhang indicated that his chamber of commerce will as always play the best part of a bridge and bond between Zhejiang and Shandong provinces to facilitate two-way economic interaction and cultural exchange. He hopes that the businesspeople from his native province will learn from the rich culture of the host province to contribute to Shandong's high-quality development as a new generation of Zhejiang merchants, modern Confucian merchants and good partners of Shandong.

More Exchanges between Enterprises

At a new starting point, Shandong has taken the initiative to integrate into the great cause of opening-up and the construction of the Belt and Road to build a new highland for opening to the outside world.

"Shandong will usher in a new round of rapid development," commented Lu Jingdong, vice president of China World Trade Corporation (CWTC) and chairman of its Shandong regional company. He believes that CGBP 2018 is significant in that Shandong is opening its door wider to embrace the world. The theme of the conference implies that Shandong is constructing a modern industrial system to inject new impetus into high-quality development and promote integrated development of new industries, aiming at a modern, innovative and powerful province.

Zhan Dong, a native businessman from Linyi City who has run a business in Africa for 10 years, is now the vice chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Kenya and chairman of the Shandong Chamber of Commerce in Kenya. On this trip back to his hometown, he was very excited with Linyi's dramatic changes in recent years. "The city has changed so much," Zhan noted. "I feel the vitality of the city with the improvement of urban infrastructure and the rapid development of commerce." At present, Zhan is planning to set up an international trading company in Linyi. "The company will facilitate the flow of commodities between my hometown and foreign countries," said Zhan. "Linyi has its advantages in logistics. I'm quite confident in the future of my new company."

"The success of CGBP 2018 has built a high-level platform for 17 prefecture-level cities of Shandong to attract more investment," opined Qiao Jun, director of Weihai Municipal Bureau of Commerce. On the sidelines of the conference, Weihai signed 58 contracts and agreements with its partners, including Global 500 companies, multinational corporations, "hidden champion" companies and state-owned enterprises. The results are unprecedented, with a total investment of 165 billion yuan. Two of the intended projects are worth over 10 billion yuan each, five of the projects worth over five billion yuan each.

Li Huaiyang, deputy director of Jining Municipal Bureau of Commerce, explained that his city has taken measures to tackle problems related to single-window document processing (part of the government's efforts to streamline administration, delegate powers, improve regulation, and strengthen services). He hopes that the measures will create a more favorable business environment for global companies to settle down in Jining. "At this new starting point, we should push forward high-quality development," said Li, "More exchanges between domestic and foreign high-quality enterprises will be helpful."

SOURCE Information Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province