Sichuan Economy and Trade Trends

Monthly, March 2015

Published by CCPIT Sichuan Council

Contents

Macro Economy

2014 Sichuan Forestry Output Value Hit RMB220 Billion

Last year, Sichuan forestry output value totaled RMB220 billion; per capita income of farmers from forestry reached RMB990, with a year-on-year increase of 8.4% and 13.8% respectively. 18 national-level and 14 provincial-level demonstration forestry cooperatives were newly established; cooperative economic organizations of forestry across the province amounted to 2955.

Last year, when “ten-thousand-mu forests planting program” was promoted across the province, many efforts were made to forge the second batch of key forestry counties. Great emphasis was placed onto the 6 major industries including wood-bamboo, featured economic forest, under-forest economy, ecotourism, wildlife breeding & utilizing, seedlings & flowers and 4 ecotourism brands covering forests, wet land, giant panda and villages, giving a great impetus to the development of Sichuan forestry. In this year, apart from continuous efforts on the 6 major industries and ecotourism, Sichuan planned to strive to promote local forestry enterprises outward. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 10^th by Wang Chengdong)

2015 Sichuan  Building Industry Output Value Targets RMB900 Billion

On March 9^th, Sichuan Provincial Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Department launched the 2015 Plan on Implementing Priorities in Promoting Building Industry, according to which, in 2015, Sichuan building industry output value is expected to total RMB900 billion with a year-on-year increase of 11%; the added value of building industry is expected to reach RMB240 billion, rising by 8%; also, there will be 160,000 newly-provided posts.

As building industry came into bloom in Sichuan, more efforts shall be made on pushing up the industry level and corporate reform and upgrading shall be regarded as the first priority. In 2015, enterprises will be encouraged to carry out reform, partnering, merger or stock cooperation for further development. Steps shall be quickened to forge a batch of large comprehensive building enterprises (or groups) with huge assets, good economic benefits, well-performed management and strong core competitiveness. There are expected to be 10 enterprises with output value beyond RMB10 billion, 3 ones with output value beyond RMB50 billion and one with output value beyond RMB100 billion. Great backing will be provided to the development of featured hi-tech SMEs with good prospect and also will be offered to building enterprises for upstream and downstream expansions. Besides, more efforts will be made to elevate the design and construction capability in infrastructure fields including transportation, hydro-engineering, municipal administration, urban rails and railway.

To promote building industry modernization shall be also highlighted in 2015, involving the standardization of engineering design, components manufacturing, construction and installation. Great achievements in green building construction are required: in 2015, 35 million m² of green buildings shall be accomplished in 2015. In addition, more roughly-decorated houses shall be constructed. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 12^th by Wang Shuang and Xiong Xiaowei)

Added Value of Industries above Designated Size Increased by 7.9% during the 1^st~2^nd Month

During the first 2 months of the year, the added value of industries above designated size experienced a year-on-year increase of 7.9%; the growth rate was 1.1 percentage points higher than nationwide average level, ranking the 16^th among provinces and cities in the country and the 5^th among the top 8 provinces with strong economic background.

The added value kept climbing in 31 industries out of 41. Wine, drinks, tea refining and non-metallic minerals industries picked up and grew quickly, contributing a lot to industrial growth. Auto, computer and manufacturing industries grew at a quite high speed in past few years but took on a small growth rate with such a solid base.

Total fixed asset investment came to RMB289.43 billion, with a year-on-year increase of 11.8%. Among industries, the primary industry enjoyed the highest growth rate in investment, with a year-on-year increase of 30.4%; the tertiary industry ranked the 2^nd, with a year-on-year growth of 18%. On the contrary, the secondary industry underwent a decline of 1.1% in investment (totaling RMB87.95 billion), principally resulting from the descending industrial market, benefits and investment income and in line with corresponding nationwide development trend.

During the first 2 months, total retail sales of social consumer goods reached RMB209.18 billion, with a year-on-year increase of 11.8%. E-commerce moved along a rather fast development track. From January to February, the on-line retail sales of enterprises above designated size experienced a year-on-year increase of 68.6%, with 56.8 percentage points higher than the growth rate of total retail sales of social consumer goods. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 18^th by Dong Shimei)

Foreign Trade

3M ChinaWest Region Technical Center Landed on Chengdu to Promote Techniques Output There

The west region headquarters was established in Chengdu in July, last year; on March 10^th, the 3MChinaWest Region Technical Center Unveiling was launched in Chengdu and that’s the 5^th technical center of 3M established acrossChina.

The 3M Company (one of Fortune Global 500) is an international diverse technological innovation company, offering products and services to consumers in about 200 countries. It has developed about 70,000 kinds of products covering household articles, medical services, transportation, building, commerce, education, electronics and communication. So far, the Company has established 12 subsidiaries, 11 production bases, 27 offices, 5 technical centers and 1 R&D center. According to James W. McSheffrey – the president of Great China for 3M, “in recent years, more and more attention has been drawn to environmental protection, bringing along greater and greater demand in 3M masks and air purifiers”; the Company will place emphasis on air and water resources purification and food safety. Since the West Region Technical Center was established in Chengdu, efforts will be made to promote 3M-related techniques output there and offer technical solutions to local clients. New products developed locally will become one of the core impetuses of 3M business growth. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 11^th by Zhao Ruoyan, Luan Xiaojing and Jiang Junfang)

Sichuan Imports & Exports Picked up Soon in Feb.

In February, the imports & exports underwent a quite quick recovery in Sichuan; the foreign trade value totaled USD4.84 billion, including USD3.58 billion harvested in exports.

In February, the foreign trade value totaled RMB29.63 billion with a year-on-year increase of 9.3%, recovering from the decline of 7.6% in January. The exports value hit RMB21.91 billion with a year-on-year increase of 21.2%, recovering from the decline of 1.6% in January; the imports value hit RMB7.72 billion with a year-on-year decline of 14.5%, recovering by 9.2 percentage points from the decline of 23.7% in January.

During first 2 months, Sichuan foreign trade value totaled RMB72.09 billion, with a year-on-year decline of 1.3% while the exports value hit RMB54.96 billion with a year-on-year increase of 6.4%. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 13^th by Wang Shuang)

Panzhihua ASEAN  International Trade  City Direct-sales Store 15% Off

On March 5^th, the Panzhihua  ASEAN International  Trade City was unveiled; the trial operation is expected to start in October, to offer featured agricultural products and other commodities. Direct selling, with fewer intermediate links, was carried out there and there was expected to be a general 15% off in respect to those commodities.

So far, investment attraction has started in the city. Li Yunhua – the vice chairman of Myanmar Tachilek Food Society ever came to visit; enterprise members of that Society has established marketing channels in Yunnan but did not spread any business to Sichuan.

Apart from promoting their commodities into Sichuan, the Society also harbored desires for bringing Sichuan featured agricultural products back. The Trade City, sized at 14.2 mu, was expected to house over 120 ASEAN stores and offer nearly 6000 kinds of products. There are so far 20 stores fromThailand,Myanmar,LaosandVietnamthat signed contracts with the City.

The City planned to offer ASEAN commodities, along with featured Sichuan and Yunnan agricultural products, positioning itself as an integrated retail platform integrating warehousing, logistics, financial service and e-commerce for Sichuan, Yunnan and ASEAN agricultural products and small commodities. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 13^th by Yang Heng and Kou Minfang)

Chengdu to Start New Flights to Katmandu

According to news launched by Sichuan Airlines on March 12^th, flights along Chengdu-Lhasa-Katmandu were expected to be started from April 1^st and one round-trip flight would be offered each day. Under the strategic backdrop of “One Belt and One Road”, the flight to the capital ofNepalwill deepen exchanges between Chengdu and South  Asia. Sichuan Airlines provided special offer during starting period and the price for one round-trip flight to Katmandu in April can be as slow as RMB388.

Passengers will take the flight on the Airbus A319 and arrive at the destination after about 4 hours. The Chengdu-Katmandu flight is the only one flying over the Himalayas and passing the Everest on both ways. It is said that the flight generally flies at a height of about 9000m while passing the Everest, which can be viewed on most occasions. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 13^th by Wang Meiling, Cai Chao and Gao Ang)

Chengdu to Start Direct Flights to Moscow from May 2^nd

According to news launched by Sichuan Airlines on March 13^th, the international round-trip direct flights from Chengdu to Moscow will be started from May 2^nd on, with one-way trip lasting for 8 hours and 25 minutes. It is the first direct flight to Moscow departing from southwestern areas inChinaand also the 4^th direct passenger flight to Europe after direct flights to Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt from Chengdu.

This flight, an on-line charter, takes 3 round trips every week and generally departs from Chengdu on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The plane is A330, a double-channel wide-body airliner, numbered as 3U609/10. It departs from Chengdu at 15:00 (Beijing Time) and arrives at Moscow at 18:25 (local time); it takes off at 20:20 (local time) from Moscow and gets to Chengdu at 10:00 (Beijing Time) on the next day.

At present, transits at Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are required in respect to Chengdu-Russia air trip, with the whole trip lasting for above 13 hours. Once the above-mentioned direct flights are started, it only takes over 8 hours for flying from Chengdu toRussia. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 14^th by Wang Meiling, Cai Chao and Gao Ang)

Czech Consulate-general to be Established at Chengdu

On March 24^th, Zhong Mian now served as a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and also the vice-governor met Crane – the assistant to the minister of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic and compared notes about establishing Czech Consulate-general at Chengdu and starting direct flights from Chengdu to Prague (the capital of Czech).

Crane said that one of the significant fruits harvested during the visits paid by Zeman – the president of Czech Republic to Chengdu in October, last year was the decision to establish the Czech Consulate-general at Chengdu, which was also to be the only Czech Consulate-general newly-established in 2015 across the world and to be opened in September this year. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 25^th by Liu Miaomiao)

Key Projects

Guangyuan-Pingwu Expressway to Commence this Year

Guangyuan governments planned to carry out 107 major projects with a total investment of RMB249.5 billion, RMB22.109 billion of which was to be injected this year. Guangyuan-Pingwu Expressway is expected to commence this year.

Guangyuan-Pingwu Expressway plays an important role in the national expressway network and is regarded as the easiest access to Jiuzhaigou Valley from northern areas inChina. It starts at Qima Junction of Lanzhou-Haikou Expressway in the east, through Guangyuan Qingchuan and Mianyang Pingwu, and ends at Pingwu Junction of Mianyang-Jiuzhaigou Expressway, stretching about 90km. It integrates Beijing-Kunming, Lanzhou-Haikou, Mianyang-Jiuzhaigou and Enshi-Guangyuan Expressways, forming an extensive Sichuan tourism loop. BOT is to be adopted for construction; Guangyuan municipal government has reached a preliminary agreement with BUCG on cooperation.

Those above-mentioned major projects include 63 continued ones such as 081 industrial new city infrastructure and Guangyuan Shangshipan hydroelectric-navigation schemes with a planned investment of RMB16.594 billion, 37 newly-started ones such as Datang Guangyuan New Power Plant Phase I with a planned investment of RMB5.515 billion, 7 reserve projects such as 20x10⁴t/a Yanjing Beer Production Base and Mianyang-Guangyuan double-track railway of Beijing-Kunming Expressway. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 7^th by Xiang Chaolun and Cheng Wenwen)

Industries

CSR Chengdu  Rail Transportation  Park Foundation Stone Laying

On February 28^th, CSR Chengdu Rail Transportation Park Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony was launched in Xindu District, Chengdu, which symbolized that CSR entered the southwest market. Chengdu will make all efforts to turn it into the top-ranking urban rail transportation industrial base in the central and western areas ofChina.

CSR  Chengdu Rail  Transportation Park, with a total investment of RMB5.07 billion, sized at over 1500 mu. Once put into operation, it, according to the estimation, will have an annual sales revenue of RMB15 billion. According to the strategic layout of CSR, the Park will be forged into the CSR rail transportation auto manufacturing and maintenance base and key systems & significant parts manufacturing base in southwestern areas. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 1^st by Zhang Yuxi)

Chengdu Chiwan International Oil & Gas Base Foundation Stone Laying

On March 1^st, the foundation of Chengdu Chiwan International Oil & Gas Base was laid in Chengdu Xindu Industrial East Zone. Both international and domestic energy tycoons competed to occupy Sichuan shale gas development market share.

The base, sized at 1000 mu, will be injected with RMB3.6 billion to forge core functions including energy equipment R&D, emerging energy application & development, high-tech enterprises incubation, equipment manufacturing and technical services. Bunches of international energy tycoons will be introduced for Phase I project; BAKER HUGHES R&D Center and Manufacturing Base, GE Chengdu Manufacturing & Logistics Base, Schlumberger Production & Manufacturing Base, Halliburton Production, Manufacturing and Logistics Base as well as Weatherford Production, Manufacturing and Logistics Base. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 2^nd by Zhang Yuxi)

Liangshan E-commerce Transaction Volume Striving to be Over RMB 5 billion in 2015

Last year, e-commerce enterprises in Liangshan Yi Nationality Autonomous Prefecture established more than 10 e-commerce platforms, opened up more than 500 online stores on many domestic famous e-commerce platforms like Taobao, Jingdong, etc. E-commerce industrial park in Daliangshan was brought into the overall planning of 20 key e-commerce industrial parks in the whole province and e-commerce industry has become the new highlight of modern service industry in Liangshan Yi Nationality Autonomous Prefecture with its market transaction volume reached RMB 2 billion and online retail sales up to RMB 0.42 billion.

By taking the advantage of e-commerce of Liangshan Yi Nationality Autonomous Prefecture, in this year, the Characteristics of China-Liangshan Pavilion will be pushed onto the Taobao platform and Sichuan Provincial key e-commerce industrial parks will be set up to boost the operation of bulk commodities e-commerce trading markets in Chongqing and Sichuan and make the indigenous e-commerce platforms like Daliangshan Special Products Trading Center, Liangshan Special Products Website, Zhengzhong Store, etc. become stronger and marketing campaigns will be energetically carried out for the characteristic agriculture products online shopping festival. In 2015, the best effort will be enhanced to make the e-commerce market transaction volume of the whole prefecture break RMB 5 billion, with online retail sales attaining RMB 1 billion and enterprise e-commerce utility ratio taking up more than 60%. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 5^th by Xu Denglin)

RMB 2.1 Billion will be Invested to Develop Walnut Industry in Liangshan Prefecture in Next 10 Years

In next ten years, RMB 2.1295 billion will be invested to develop the walnut industry in Liangshan  Prefecture. By 2025, the walnut planting area of the whole prefecture will be expanded to 10 million mu and walnut output value will reach RMB 10 billion. Wherein, in 2015, the newly expanded walnut planting area in this prefecture will be up to 1.2 million mu, the yield will reach 0.1 million tons and the output value will achieve RMB 2 billion.

At present, the walnut resource area in Liangshan  Prefecture is 3.6 million mu, the total yield of walnut is 0.09 million tons and the output value is RMB 1.5 billion. As per the planning, 4 walnut industrial development counties including Yanyuan, Ningnan, Huili and Huidong with a total planting area of more than 1 million mu will be established in Liangshan to process the walnut productions on the basis of continuously extending the planting area. By 2025, the preliminary processing rate will reach 100%. According to the developing schedule and yield of walnut, 4 medium scale walnut deep processing plants and one large scale walnut deep processing plant will be founded by stages in different areas to make the deep processing rate achieve 50% and yield attain 0.4 million tons.

With clear planning, government in Liangshan  Prefecture will strive to build the brand of Daliangshan walnut and actively carry out forest food certification and organic food certification for the walnut planning industry. By 2015, the planting area of organic food and forest food will arrive more than 60%. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 5^th by Zhong Meilan)

186 Million Tourists Came to Chengdu in 2014

In 2014, the total number of tourists in Chengdu was up to 0.186 billion with a year-on-year growth of 20.01% and the total tourist income reached RMB 166.337 billion with a year-on-year growth of 25.01%. This year, Chengdu government will enhance the construction of world tourism destination with all its strength to realize a total tourist income of RMB 193 billion and receive about 55.8 million domestic tourists staying overnight in Chengdu and about 2.2 million inbound tourists. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 10^th by Chen Bihong)

The First Western China Patent Examination Cooperation Center to be Formally Listed at Chengdu

While deepening the national intellectual property right demonstration city construction, Sichuan Cooperation Center of the National Patent Examination will be formally listed to establish in Chengdu on March 20^th. In this year, the innovation-driven development strategy and intellectual property strategy will be thoroughly implemented in Chengdu to promote the construction progress of “six major projects” of intellectual property and make Chengdu an advanced strong intellectual property city in central and western region and a top-ranking strong intellectual property city inChinaby 2020.

Sichuan Cooperation Center is not only one of the 6 Beijing-excluding patent examination cooperation centers nationwide arranged by the State Intellectual Property Office of the PRC, but also the only one patent examination cooperation center in Western China. Presently, 9 sectors have been set up in Sichuan Cooperation Center and the patent examination covering fields of machinery, electricity, communication, medicine, photo electricity and material. There are 242 personnel in Sichuan  Cooperation Center now. And it is predicted that, after completely fulfill the construction the Sichuan Cooperation Center and putting it into normal operation in 2018, there will be 2000 patent examiner and 120 administrative staff working in Sichuan  Cooperation Center. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 20^th by Cheng Xuan and Zhang Minghai)

Convention & Exhibition Economy

The "Trip to Sichuan ofChinaand Foreign Well-known Enterprises" will be Held at Chengdu in April

In order to further utilize the important supporting function of investment promotion in the process of growth stabilizing, construction adjusting and transformation promotion, the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government decided to hold the “2015 Trip to Sichuan of China and Foreign Well-known Enterprises” at Chengdu from April 23^rd to 24^th to drive and boost the opening cooperation via inviting investment.

The event sponsored by the Provincial Government will be held with the theme of “Making investment in Sichuan and sharing opportunity”. More than 200 domestic and foreign famous enterprises and commerce associations engaging in the Sichuan provincial seven competitive industries, five high-end growth industries and five newly-developing leading service industries will be invited to the event. The Governor of Nordrhein-Westfalen inGermanywill be present at the event with his economic delegation accompanied.

During the event, the Investment Promotion Conference of “2015 Trip to Sichuan of China and Foreign Well-known Enterprises” and Signing Ceremony of Cooperative Project, Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany-Sichuan Investment and Cooperation Promotion Conference, Municipal (State) Serial Thematic Investment Promotion Conference, field visit and other events will be conducted. A batch of investment and cooperation projects including reformation and reconstruction project of state-owned enterprises boosting the mixed economic development, PPP project in people’s livelihood, expressway, water conservancy facilities and other major infrastructure projects will be centralized and carried out.

Last April, a project with an aggregate investment of RMB 879.1 billion successfully signed the contract at the “Trip to Sichuan of China and Foreign Well-known Enterprises” held in Sichuan  Province. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 4^th by Zeng Xiaoqing)

The 1^st Agricultural Material Trading Exhibition Kicked off in Mianyang

In the morning of March 18^th, the first 3-day Agricultural Material Trading Exhibition in Mianyang will be kicked off in the agricultural material wholesale market in Longmeng  Town, Fucheng District. Nearly 200 agricultural material enterprises inside and outside the province will be attracted here for the exhibition. At the event, pesticides, fertilizers, veterinary medicine, agricultural implements, etc. will be showcased and traded.

The agricultural material wholesale market covering an area of 123 mu is the largest one in the whole province. Currently, more than 200 enterprises have been attracted to make investment here and its interlocking network has covered villages and towns in all the counties (towns) and districts in Mianyang City. In 2014, a sales volume of more than RMB 1 billion had been made. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 19^th by Zu Mingyuan)

CIADE 2015 Held at Luzhou

Nearly 500 alcoholic drinks enterprises from more than 20 countries and regions gathered together at Luzhou, Sichuan to exchange their opinions on the development of alcoholic drinks industry under the “New Normal” ofChina’s economy. In the morning of March 23^rd, the China International Alcoholic Drinks Expo 2015 (CIADE 2015) was kicked off at Luzhou.

With the theme of “inheriting and innovating”, the CIADE is aimed at adapting the new normal of economic development and promoting the development of alcoholic drinks industry in an innovative way on the basis of inheriting the conventional national characteristics. In the wake of significantly promotion of internationalization degree, the CIADE has been held in many countries and regions including North America, Europe, Asia and Australasia. Comparing with the last CIADE, the exhibition areas of foreign countries and regions as well as the number of enterprises have respectively increased by 48% and 45%

The CIADE firstly shifted to Luzhou, Sichuan in 2014 will be permanently settled there to gradually become an important platform to introduce Chinese alcoholic drinks to the world, enhance the cross-regional cooperation in nationwide main liquor producing areas, improve the sustainable development ability of alcoholic drinks industry inChinaand promote the brand influence of alcohol products.

Altogether 327 projects have signed contracted at the event with total contract volume of RMB 49.84 billion. Among all the projects, trading projects account for 271 with turnovers of RMB 27.3 billion and investment projects take up 56 with turnovers of RMB 22.54 billion. Wherein, 28 of the investment projects engage in alcohol business and associated industries with total investment volume of RMB 6.227 billion. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 27^th by Hu Yanshu, Zhao Ruoyan, Zhou Wei and Luo Zhiyang)

The CFDF Held Smoothly

The 92^nd China Food & Drinks Fair was held in the New International Exhibition Center in Chengdu Century City from March 26^th to 28^th. About 3000 enterprises attended the fair for showing, trading, cooperation and negotiation.

Exhibition areas for showcasing alcoholic drinks, wines and international spirits, foods, condiments, food machineries and packages have been established. Exhibitors from 33 countries and regions includingFrance,Spain,Italy,America,Japan,Korea, etc. participated in the exhibition to display their exhibits.

At this event, the number of accumulative audience reached over 300,000 and the total transaction volume reached RMB 22.667 billion. Wherein, transaction volume of RMB 11.74 billion was for alcoholic drinks, RMB 8.56 billion for foods and beverages, RMB 1.35 billion for condiments and RMB 1.017 billion for food machineries and packages. By taking the advantage of brighten float, wechat, 3D virtual reality and other new media and new technologies, more accurate information, communication, exhibition online restore and other value-added services were provided for the merchants at the fair. The platform has won good reputation from exhibitors and participants as for its functions including information distribution and brand value communication.

The new iconic identification of CFDF by taking the initials of “China Food & Drinks Fair” as basic elements was put into formal use at the beginning of this event. Two supporting events including "Food Carnival" and “Happy Shopping of Global Foods” were firstly held in 7 large-scale department stores and more than 300 famous restaurants at Chengdu, setting a precedent of deeply integrating the CFDF with urban consumer markets. (Sichuan Daily reported on March 31^st by Ran Qianting)

CCPIT Sichuan Council

Vice Chairman Li Li Meeting with Delegation Led by Deputy Consul-general ofIsraelConsulate-general in Chengdu-Mr. Jacob

In the morning of March 9^th, 2015, Vice-chairman of CCPIT Sichuan Council-Li Li met with the delegation led by Deputy Consul-general ofIsraelConsulate-general in Chengdu-Mr. Jacob.

Vice-chairman Li Li expressed his welcome to Mr. Jacob for his first visit and indicated that the establishment ofIsraelConsulate-general in Chengdu plays a very important role in boosting the economics and trade relations betweenIsraeland Sichuan. This August, our council will organize Sichuan enterprises engaging in the businesses of agriculture, hardware and light industry consumer goods to Israel to find cooperative partners based on the recommendation of Israel Consulate-general, invite relevant enterprises in Israel to conduct docking meeting and welcome Israeli enterprises to Sichuan to participate in the “China (Sichuan) Imported Commodity Fair”, “Chengdu International Trade Fair for Automotive Parts and Aftermarket Services”, etc. held by our council. In addition, Vice-chairman Li Li also expressed his wishes to Deputy Consul-general Jacob to recommend 1-2 high quality law offices or law firms to render services to Sichuan investment enterprises in Israel as the investigation and survey on external cooperation enterprises in Sichuan show that many enterprises hope to get assistance from local law office when making investment in foreign countries.

Firstly, Deputy Consul-general Jacob showed his appreciation to Vice Chairman Li Li and CCPIT Sichuan Council for their supports and indicated that he would like to introduce the exhibitions to Israeli enterprises and recommend relevant law firms to Sichuan enterprises. He also stated that the very market potential of Western China makes him set up consulate-general in Chengdu.Israelpossessing leading superiority in the fields of hi-tech agriculture, water treatment, IT technology, medical technology, etc. encourages people to do pioneering work and willing to share experiment and cooperate with Chinese enterprises. This April, a High-tech Agriculture Exhibition for every three years will be held in Tel Aviv. Sichuan enterprises having interest in the field will be welcome to the exhibition.

Vice Chairman Li Li expressed gratitude to Deputy Consul-general Jacob and suggested that both sides can make intercommunication in the end of each year in regard to the cooperation work plan of next year. CCPIT Sichuan Council will spare no effort to give assistance toIsraelConsulate-general for carrying out correlated activities to jointly boost the bilateral economic and trade links.

Vice Chairman Lv Furong Attended the Preparatory Work Conference of EXPO Milano 2015ChinaPavilion Participated by Provincial, District and Municipal Governments

In the morning of February 13^th, 2015, preparatory work conference of EXPO Milano 2015 China Pavilion participated by provincial, district and municipal governments was convened in the CCPIT Hall. Vice Chairman Lv Furong attended the conference and made an introduction about relevant situations of our province at the EXPO Milano.

Deputy-counsel of the Exhibition Department of CCPIT-Zhang Liang hosted the meeting and made an introduction as for the latest preparations for the China Pavilion and the implementation guidelines on the participation of provincial, district and municipal governments. Vice Chairman of CCPIT-Wang Jinzhen and Deputy Director of ATPC-Song Juguo made speeches at the conference. Vice Chairman Wang Jinzhen appealed to pay high attention on the EXPO Milano, make full use of world expo and take the opportunity of world expo to deepen the multi-field cooperative partnership betweenChinaandItaly, stimulate the sound development of agri-food industry and promote the cultural exchange with foreign countries and non-governmental contacts.

While giving introduction about relevant conditions of EXPO Milano participated by Sichuan Provincial Government, Vice Chairman Lv Furong stated that our work is characterized by fully embodying participation effectiveness of enterprises via combining the general deployment of "Sichuan enterprises going abroad" activity carried out in our province. We will make a good job of preliminary preparation and docking work and hope that we can get great support from the Organizing Committee of China Pavilion.

President Li Gang Met with Delegation of Washington State of Sichuan Province Chamber of Commerce and Signed Memorandum of Cooperation

On March 20^th, 2015, entrepreneur delegation led by Chairman of Washington State of Sichuan Province Chamber of Commerce-Zhou Shuqi paid an official visit and President Li Gang met with the delegation.

President Li Gang extended warmest welcome to Chairman Zhou Shuqi for his visiting and made an introduction about the latest development situation on Sichuan economy and industry. He said he would devote himself to promote and stimulate the economic and trade cooperation between Sichuan and foreign (overseas) regions and countries and was in hope of strengthening the communication with Washington State of Sichuan Province Chamber of Commerce to serve for the pragmatic cooperation between enterprises from both sides. President Li Gang also proposed Washington State of Sichuan Province Chamber of Commerce to organize more enterprises come to visit Sichuan and participate in the exhibitions and docking conferences conducted by CCPIT Sichuan Council.

Chairman Zhou Shuqi showed his appreciate to President Li Gang for his reception. Firstly, he gave a brief introduction about Washington State and indicated that both regions have established extensive relations of cooperation in fields of economy and trade, culture, tourism, etc. after over 30 years of sister states relationship. In order to further promote the communication and cooperation between both sides, with the support of State Government, the Washington State of Sichuan Province Chamber of Commerce has been established and a representative office will be set up at Chengdu to further promote the in-depth cooperation between both sides in other fields. For the sake of cooperation partnership promotion, Chairman Zhou Shuqi also invited our economic and trade delegation led by CCPIT Sichuan Council to Washington State for visiting and field investigation.

At the end of the meeting, President Li Gang signed a memorandum of cooperation with Standing President of Washington State of Sichuan Province Chamber-Mr. Zhuang Hanjie.

Vice Chairman Li Li Attended theNetherlandsRotterdam-Sichuan Enterprises Match-making Meeting

On March 23^rd, 2015, Rotterdam entrepreneur delegation led by Deputy Mayor of Rotterdam in Netherlands-Maarten Struijvenberg visited Chengdu and conducted the Netherlands Rotterdam-Sichuan Entrepreneur Docking Conference.

The docking conference was sponsored by the NCH. The CEO of NCH-Simon Yang, Vice Chairman Li Li and leadership of Chengdu Federation of Industry and Commerce attended the conference and made speeches. 10 entrepreneurs from Rotterdam and nearly 40 entrepreneurs from Sichuan performed in-depth negotiation on logistics, floristry, greenhouse technology, e-business and LED, etc.

In the preliminary stage of docking, enterprises from both sides conducted good preparatory work, made accurate positioning and achieved remarkable docking result. YBTAO Future E-commerce Co., Ltd. has reached to agreement with Netherlands NVWANG BV Company to introduce European and American famous international top luxuries into Yibin through e-commerce platform, and next, they will sign cooperative agreement. Sichuan CCO Display Technology Co., Ltd. negotiated with OLETON (Philips) and made in-depth negotiation as for the highly prospective organic LED technology ofNetherlands.

Sichuan-made Products Well Received inNepal

From March 10^th to 19^th, 2015, Sichuan economic and trade delegation composed of 14 enterprises (2 of them going abroad for exhibition for the first time) organized by CCPIT Sichuan Council went toNepalfor the “4^th Nepal International Trade Fair” (short for “Nepal Trade Fair”). During the event, CCPIT Sichuan Council also held economic and trade exchange forum in the Kingdom  of Bhutan and had achieved tangible results.

14 standard exhibition booths were set for the delegation at the Nepal Trade Fair. The total exhibition area was 315m². The weight of exhibits through centralized transportation is 1.1 tons. More than 40 kinds of exhibition items involving agricultural machineries, construction machineries, hardware mechanical and electrical equipment, craft gifts, construction materials, foods, seeds, etc. were displayed at the exhibition. “Sichuan-made” products were well-received by locals. Director of the Ministry of Commerce of Nepal-Sunil Bahadur Thapa, President of Nepal and China Economic and Trade Association-Alubo and other famous Nepalese political merchants visited Sichuan Exhibition Area and 270 professional traveling merchants were present for trade negotiation. 7 Sichuan enterprises signed orders at the event with a total transaction amount of USD 1.9 million. Preliminary intent for cooperation has been reached for 29 projects and investment amount of USD 1.6 million was intended to be made inNepal. The People’s Daily ofNepal, Xinhua News Agency and other media conducted interviews and reports to exhibitors from Sichuan Province.

In Thimphu of Bhutan, the “China Sichuan-Bhutan Economic and Trade Exchange Forum” was jointly held by our delegation and Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of the Kingdom of  Bhutan. Deputy Secretary-general of the CCI of the Kingdom of Bhutan-Gesangwangdi made an introduction about the local economic and trade policy and investment environment. Enterprises from both sides performed negotiation and reached preliminary cooperative intention.

President Li Gang Met with CEO of US-China Investment Group-Mr. Michael Gordon and His Delegation

On March 27^th, 2015, President of CCPIT Sichuan Council-Li Gang met with CEO of US-China Investment Group-Mr. Michael Gordon and his delegation.

President Li Gang firstly made a brief description of the development situation of Sichuan economy and industry and emphatically introduced the “Chengdu International Trade Fair for Automotive Parts and Aftermarket Services” will be held this May. He expressed his hope that the US-China Investment Group can organize relevant enterprises come to Sichuan for the event and indicated that he would devote himself to promote and stimulate the economic and trade cooperation between Sichuan and foreign (overseas) regions and countries and would give strong support and assistance to the investment training institutions of US-China Investment Group at Chengdu.

Mr. Michael Gordon thanked President Li Gang for his support to the investment training project and stated that he would actively collaborate with CCPIT Sichuan Council by calling related enterprises together to participate the “Chengdu International Trade Fair for Automotive Parts and Aftermarket Services” in May.

Deputy-counsel Zhu Xiaojin Met with Ｅxecutive Director of Overseas Business Department of the KINTEX-Myung Shin Kim and His Delegation

On March 31^st, 2015, Deputy-counsel Zhu Xiaojin met and held talk with Ｅxecutive Director of Overseas Business Department of the KINTEX-Myung Shin Kim and his delegation.

Deputy-counsel Zhu Xiaojin extended his warm welcome to Ｅxecutive Director Myung Shin Kim and his delegation for their coming for investigation and exhibition preparation. Mr. Zhu Xiaojin gave an introduction on the development situation of Sichuan exhibition economy, listed some major exhibition projects held by our council and illustrated our skillful experience and advantages on holding exhibitions. He expressed that Chengdu with good conditions and huge market is suitable for holding exhibitions as it is building the Western China International  Exhibition Center. He hopes that the organizers fromKoreacan combine with our existing platform to create an international high-end exhibition platform.

Ｅxecutive Director Myung Shin Kim showed his gratitude for the support from our council, made an introduction about the basic situation of KINTEX and expressed his intention of developing in Chengdu. He indicated that Chengdu would exert a great effect and impact on theChina's Western Development and he hopes to gain new development force in Chengdu.Koreawould seriously consider about our suggestions and enhance the communication and cooperation with our council to achieve these objectives.