Wuhan, March 22 (Xinhua) - The 2024 "Meeting in Spring to Appreciate Cherry Blossoms" economic and trade negotiations and the World Top 500 Dialogue Hubei event opened in Wuhan on March 21. European companies attending the event are looking forward to deeply cultivating the Chinese market, promoting green opening up, and increasing efficiency through blockchain aggregation.
Ning Jizhe, Vice Chairman of the China International Economic Exchange Center, stated that China and Europe are major partners in investment and trade, and economic and trade cooperation between China and Europe has always been complementary and mutually beneficial. I hope to promote the "old trees bloom new flowers" of China Europe economic and trade cooperation, and strive to create a stable and positive future for China Europe relations in the long term.
The reporter learned from the Hubei Provincial Department of Commerce that in 2023, Hubei's total foreign trade with Europe reached 124.12 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.3%. There were 700 European companies investing in Hubei, including 74 of the Fortune Global 500 companies.
"We have been operating service stations in Hubei Province since 1994 and have been exploring the path of sustainable development in China," said An Songlan, President of Total Energy (China) Investment Co., Ltd. In 2020, the company took the lead in launching China's first independent electric vehicle charging station in Wuhan, actively exploring and promoting green electricity, and meeting the growing and changing needs of the Chinese market through high value-added polymer products.
For a long time, Hubei has promoted economic and trade cooperation and cultural integration with European countries, and has built high standard Sino French ecological cities, Sino German industrial parks and other Sino European industrial parks, promoting the expansion and improvement of bilateral trade and investment between Hubei and Europe.
Speaking of attending the 10th anniversary celebration of the signing of the Sino French Wuhan Ecological Demonstration City in Wuhan recently, Fu Kaide, Chairman and CEO of France Electric Power (China) Investment Co., Ltd., expressed great honor and will promote more cooperation projects to be signed in the future. He said that French power has been deeply cultivating the Chinese market for over 40 years and has become one of the largest foreign investors in the field of renewable energy in China. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, we hope to share development opportunities with China and help Hubei successfully achieve energy transformation.
Philip Guillaume, Director of International Relations at Port of Marseille, is also eager to further seek cooperation with China. "Since ancient times, there have been commercial exchanges between China and Europe, and the Port of Marseille is the gateway for Chinese goods to enter the European market. We look forward to more 'Made in China' reaching various parts of Europe directly through the Port of Marseille in the future.".
Over the past four years of construction, the Wuhan Sino German Industrial Park has attracted 58 foreign-funded enterprises. As early as ten years ago, Germany's Knorr formed an alliance with Hubei to explore the field of commercial vehicle cooperation, and has since been deeply involved in the construction of multiple Wuhan rail transit projects. Bi Guanghong, President of Knorr Group in China, said that in the future, we will continue to increase investment in research and development of key technologies such as braking systems in the fields of rail transit and commercial vehicles, as well as local capacity building, to create an innovative system based on the local supply chain in China.
It is reported that since 2016, Hubei has implemented a total of 28000 major technological transformation projects, resulting in a decrease of 20.2%, 23%, and 23.9% in energy consumption per unit of GDP, construction land use area, and carbon emissions, respectively.
"Hubei has made remarkable achievements in renewable energy, industrial decarbonization, and agriculture, coordinating economic and social progress with ecological environment protection." Stephanie, Vice President of the World Council for Sustainable Development, said that this year, the two sides will rely on Wuhan East Lake and Geneva Lake in Switzerland to create the "Two Lakes Forum", focusing on deepening practical commercial cooperation between China and leading global enterprises and decision-makers, and accelerating the transformation of green industries required by the world economy.
The 2024 "Meeting in Spring to Appreciate Cherry Blossoms" economic and trade negotiations and the dialogue with the Fortune Global 500 in Hubei attracted more than 600 people, including ambassadors from multiple countries in China, representatives of domestic and foreign government agencies and international economic organizations, executives from Fortune Global 500 and well-known multinational enterprises, and will end on the 22nd.
