Sichuan Economy and Trade Trends

Monthly, October 2015

                       Published by CCPIT Sichuan Council

Contents

Macro Economy

Sichuan E-Commerce Transactions Grew by 50% Annually over the Last Three Years

In the last three years, e-commerce transactions in Sichuan have been grown by above 50% annually. The transaction scale exceeded RMB 1 trillion in both 2014 and the previous eight months of 2015. Sichuan has edged itself into the central and western regions with the fastest e-commerce growth, powerful economic force and best entrepreneurial climate.

E-commerce has become one of the fastest growing industries in Sichuan’s five emerging and guiding services. In the first eight months of 2015, Sichuan’s e-commerce transactions reached RMB 1.03923 trillion, a 31.6% increase compared with the same period of last year. Among them, online retail sales reached RMB 113.92 billion, 37.1% higher than the previous year and 12.8% of the province’s total retail sales of consumer goods. (October 12^th, Sichuan Daily/Ran Fenglin & Zeng Xiaoqing)

Forestry Ecotourism Revenue Exceeded RMB 50 Billion in the First Three Quarters of 2015

In the previous nine months of 2015, Sichuan’s direct revenue from forestry ecotourism was RMB 51.08 billion, having risen by 13% compared with the corresponding period last year.

In these three quarters, Sichuan received 180 million person-times of tourists in forestry ecotourism. These tourists chiefly spread throughout four areas: forest parks, natural reserves, wetland parks and countryside eco-tours. The number of the tourists in countryside eco-tours is the largest among them, accounting for 140 million, which generated RMB 35.25 billion in direct income. (October 13^th, Sichuan Daily/Wang Chengdong)

Sichuan’s Automobile Exports Surged 2.6 Times in the First Three Quarters of 2015

In the first three quarters of 2015, Sichuan’s total imports and exports valued RMB 246.27 billion, a 20% decline compared with the previous year. The foreign trade structure, however, continues to see optimization.

It's worth noting that the total imports and exports in the third quarter have seen a 9.7% growth from last year. In other words, the decreasing scope in foreign trade has been narrowed to a certain extent, and the structure of foreign trade has been further optimized.

As a benchmark for foreign trade growth, Sichuan's processing trade has seen a positive trend since August of this year. In September, import growth in processing trade reached 5.4%, which hints that there is still room for Sichuan's foreign trade to increase in the next couple of months.

From the perspective of product structure, a portion of exported high-tech and high-value-added products made in Sichuan grew quickly during the previous three quarters. Among them, the export value of automobiles came to RMB 580 million, 2.6 times the amount before, and that of mobile phones and centrifuges increased by 40% and 70% respectively. The export value of turbine engines reached RMB 1.33 billion, 2.8% higher compared to the previous year.

In the previous three quarters, foreign trade expanded in a more balanced way across Sichuan. Chengdu's foreign trade, as a pillar for Sichuan's foreign trade, has always occupied nearly 80% of the province. In the first three quarters, however, it dropped by 3.1% compared with the same period of last year. Some cities and autonomous prefectures proactively adjusted the foreign trade structure and bucked the trend. In the first three quarters, foreign trade rose by almost 30% in Yibin, nearly 20% in Dazhou, and 25.5% in Panzhihua. (October 17^th, Sichuan Daily/Xu Lisha & Zeng Xiaoqing)

Foreign Trade

The World's Largest Logistics Infrastructure Provider Will Build a Modern Logistics & Warehousing Center in Qingbaijiang

On September 21^st, 2015, the signing ceremony for the third group of projects was held in Qingbaijiang District, Chengdu. There are 10 major projects with a total investment of RMB 3.122 billion, covering a modern integrated logistics center and mechanical science & technology park as well as new building materials, agricultural products logistics, modern agricultural development, etc.

During the ceremony, Prologis, the world's largest industrial and logistics infrastructure provider and operator, spoke of its plans to invest in total USD 132 million to build a modern logistics & warehousing center in Qingbaijiang. The center will be seen as a benchmark for Chengdu’s modern logistics & warehousing industries. Cenfit Machinery will invest RMB 650 million to set up a mechanical science & technology park for supplying products to fields like aerospace, military science and technology, aircraft, automobile, engine, and precision machinery. Shanghai Building Materials (Group) Co., Ltd. and Qingyuan Hanjiang Glasswool Tech. Co., Ltd. have together invested RMB 150 million to establish a mineral wool production base with an annual capacity of 60,000 tons. (September 28^th, Sichuan Daily/Chen Bihong)

Direct Flight from Chengdu to Paris to Open on December 12^th

The Chengdu-Paris non-stop flight will open on December 12^th, 2015 with 4 flights each week and about 11 hours for one-way trip. It will be Chengdu’s first regular and scheduled non-stop flight to and from Paris.

After the route is opened, there will be 10 international passenger routes put into service at Shuangliu  International Airport this year, which will break previously held records.

At present, routes from Chengdu to Paris primarily stop in Amsterdam, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong. The shortest of these routes still takes fourteen hours. The direct flight will reduce travel time by three hours. According to the CAAC Southwest Regional Administration, the new flight linking central and westernChinaaviation hubs with European cities will accelerate economic growth and trade exchange, industrial cooperation and tourism expansion across Sichuan as well as between westernChinaand Europe. These economic interactions will become more and more active betweenFranceand southwesternChina.

The planes arrive in Paris and Chengdu in the early morning, local time. The flight schedule was decided for the people’s need for continual flights from the transfer stops in Paris and Chengdu, according to the head of Air China Southwest Branch.

Since 2015, Chengdu has opened 9 international passenger air routes, including 7 international direct passenger routes to and from Chiang Mai, Nha Trang, Colombo, Osaka, Moscow, Jeju Island andMauritius, as well as 2 international passenger routes from Chengdu to L.A. via Nanjing and to Dubai via Yinchuan. In 2013, Chengdu opened 8 international flights to and from such cities as Doha and Frankfurt. Opening flights at this rate are rarely seen in international aviation. This record however was broken this year. (September 30^th, Sichuan Daily/Wang Meiling)

Key Projects

Eight Intercity Railways to be Built in Chengdu-Chongqing Region within Five Years

Eight intercity railways will be built in the Chengdu-Chongqing Region in the coming five years, with four chugging along from Sichuan. The network of intercity railways will cover 17 cities, excluding Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, AbaTibetand Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous  Prefecture, and Panzhihua.

These intercity railways include Mianyang-Suining-Neijiang-Yibin Railway, Dazhou-Chongqing Intercity Railway, the section between Chengdu and its new airport, Zigong-Luzhou Section, Chongqing-Hechuan Section, Chongqing-Jiangjin Section, Chongqing-Bishan-Tongliang Section and Hechuan-Tongliang-Dazu-Yongchuan Section. The total investment comes to RMB 96.9 billion and the overall length is 1,008 km, with 671 km to be constructed in Sichuan. An intercity network of 5 frames and 18 supplemental lines will be formed to cover 17 cities namely Chengdu, Mianyang, Zigong, Luzhou, Deyang, Guangyuan, Suining, Neijiang, Leshan, Ziyang, Yibin, Nanchong, Dazhou, Ya’an, Guang’an, Bazhong, Meishan, where the permanent population is 500,000 or more or mostly above 200,000. The distance will be shortened to one hour’s drive between the two core cities and between the core cities and sub-center cities. There will be a total of two hours between all sub-center cities within the metropolitan community. (October 14^th, Sichuan Daily/Liang Xianrui & Wang Meiling)

Industries

Intelligent Logistics Enterprises Settled down in Xindu

On October 8^th, 2015, Loji Chengdu formally cut the ribbon for Xindu District. Its purpose is to build an intelligent logistics platform for one-stop delivery and receiving of goods by sea, road and air as well as transnational express. Loji has already launched its core products online like Logji Zhaohuo (goods searching) and Yunlifang (transportation) and offered services to more than 3,000,000 users. It has opened 147 special transportation lines, and is now the only company of intelligent logistics with its estimated value ranking 25^th among the Unicorn Club 50. (October 14^th, Sichuan Daily/Zhang Yuxi)

Asia’s First Submicron Metal Production Line Went into Operation in Sichuan

Sichuan's key projects for the industrial development plan of the Twelfth Five-Year period– the 2000 tons/year high-end metal powder new material industrialization project (Phase 1) of Sichuan YouSe Jinyuan Fenye Material Co., Ltd. was put into production in Guanghan on October 19^th, 2015. This submicron metal production line is the most advanced in Asia in terms of its production technology and is also the second one in the world that has been put into production.

The submicron metal is a special material for 3D metal printing. This new material plays an important role in changing the 3D printing model into an actual 3D printing by manufacturing irregular parts made of complete pieces of metal without welding or fusion. Its technical specifications comply with those of similar products at home and abroad. After localization, the price per kilo of the submicron metal will only be a quarter of that of imported submicron metal. (October 20^th, Sichuan Daily/Wu Jing)

Intelligent Automobile Research Institute to Be Built in Sichuan 

At the 2^nd China Intelligent Automobile International Forum held in Chengdu on October 24^th, an agreement was signed by the Telematics Industry Application Alliance, China FAW Group Corporation, University of Electronic   Science and Technology of China and Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone to jointly build an intelligent automobile research institute.

The forum focused on the profound discussion and exchange concerning hot topics in technology, market tendencies, business models, product applications, policy highlights and investment orientation. The forum pooled the experience and knowledge of those present on how to promote the automobile industry, especially the new intelligent automobile. It also aims to build a R&D platform for the development of the Sichuan automobile industry.

963,000 finished automobiles were produced in 2014  in Sichuan. The number is expected to rise to over 1 million vehicles, making it a vital base for automobile manufacturing inChina. The intelligent automobile industry, created by the blending of the electronic information technology and the traditional automobile industry, is a hot spot for new research in global automotive engineering and a new driving force for the automobile industry. To further transfer Sichuan from a strong province to a powerful one in the automobile industry, the province is striving to build a comprehensive base for R&D, production and applications of intelligent automobiles by advocating technology R&D and industrialization. (October 25^th, Sichuan Daily/Liu Jia and Zhao Ruoyan)

Commencement of Chengdu Automobile Components Industrial  Park ofChinaChang'an

On October 21^st, with a total investment of RMB 5 billion, the construction of the Chengdu Automobile Components Industrial Park of China Chang'an commenced with eight enterprises including Chengdu Huachuan Electric Parts Co., Ltd. settling in.

It is estimated that Phase I of the North District (with an investment of RMB 2.662 billion) of the park underway will be completed and put into operation in 2017. The main products of the district include automobile parts like shaft gears for transmissions, automatic transmission assemblies of DTC and AC motors. The district is expected to generate RMB 4.2 billion each year depending on its massive regional advantages, leading core technology, coordinated business development and outstanding scale advantages. (October 25^th, Sichuan Daily/Zhang Shoushuai)

Initial Western Region Internet Financial Service Platform Settled in Tianfu New Area

The Chengdu Direct-Manage-District in Tianfu New Area is supervising the establishment of the initial Western Region Network Financial Service Platform to promote innovative entrepreneurship.

The platform aims to create a new financial base filled with new financial enterprises by private equities and equity crowdfunding to enlarge the financial service industry in the area and bring impetus for other entrepreneurial enterprises focusing on innovation.

It is natural that the area devoting itself to the modern manufacturing industry and high-end service industry advocates innovation and entrepreneurship. The Chengdu Direct-Manage-District in the area is committed to developing a 2 million ㎡ incubator space for over 1,000 companies concerning innovation and entrepreneurship and attracting the top R&D institutions both in China and across the world. (October 25^th, Sichuan Daily/Li Longjun)

Convention & Exhibition Economy

Opening Ceremony of 2015 Sichuan International Cultural Tourism Festival

The opening ceremony of the 2015 Sichuan International Cultural Tourism Festival was held in Yibin, Sichuan on August 26^th. Wei Hong, Deputy Secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, announced the ceremony and delivered his address. Du Jiang, Deputy Director of the National Tourism Administration, as well as Mario Hardy, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association attended the ceremony and each gave a speech.

The festival, which has been held eight times from 2003, has played a vital role in displaying the quality tourism resources and cultural products of Sichuan. It is the first time the Festival was held in a southern city (Yibin) in Sichuan. International tourism organizations and representatives of tourism companies from twenty-one countries and regions likeAmerica,FranceandTaiwantoured and experienced tourism products and participated in the events concerning tourism promotion, negotiations and trades. 

At the ceremony, awards were bestowed to the winners of the Ten Best and Most Attractive Tour Guides and top awards of the 2^nd Sichuan Folk Song Contest as well as five new 4A scenic areas. Twelve panda fans from Europe who attended the large international marketing event Travel the Southern Silk Road and Visit the Hometown of Panda. Panda Fans Travel to Sichuan earned the honor of becoming Sichuan tourism ambassadors and received certificates to mark their ascension.

The project signing ceremony of the tourism industry was on the festival’s agenda. Contracts for 24 projects, with a total amount of RMB 16.981 billion, concerning the development of scenic areas and hotels, as well as tourism in the countryside, and of culture, health and leisure have been signed on the dotted line. (August 27^th, Sichuan Daily/Hu Yanshu, Liu Xing and Yan Jing)

RMB 381 Million of Turnover Generated at the 3^rd China (Luzhou) Southwest Commodities Fair

The 3^rd China(Luzhou) Southwest Commodities Fair 2015 (commodities fair), concentrating on innovation-oriented development, transformation and upgrading, closed its doors on September 20^th. The commodities fair, held over a course of five days, attracted 450,000 individuals, an increase of 21% compared to the last session. It had an order turnover of RMB 860 million which was larger than last year’s total of RMB 381 million. It is estimated that RMB 1.24 billion of total turnover will be reached.

The commodities fair with a scale of 500,000 ㎡ offering 1,010 stands, attracted 520 companies who displayed more than 100,000 commodities. Soft and hardware, exhibition concepts as well as models of the commodities fair were superior in all respects to the last two sessions. The 50,000 ㎡ main exhibition area featured e-commerce trade O2O, modern logistics and innovative products. There were included areas for commodities, services, and innovation & entrepreneurship. The products of regions, globalism and diversity of the fair were on full display courtesy of the Sichuan Boutique Pavilion, Europe Pavilion, Thailand Pavilion, Malaysia Pavilion and Exclusive Sichuan-Chongqing Commodities Pavilion. The 470,000 ㎡ sub area served as an interactive exhibition area for 7,000 companies。

During the event, addresses focusing on Internet + new future for commerce & trade of the age, as well as strategic e-commerce cooperation— the Southwest signing ceremony was held during the fair. Experts, academics and the elite were invited to those mentioned events to discuss the new direction of development in e-commerce and southwest commerce & trade.

In recent years, the fair industry has been thriving under the advocacy of the Sichuan Bureau of Expo Affairs who stays involved in fairs held by prefectures and cities as well as fostering and rapidly promoting batches of brand fairs with local features. (September 29^th, Sichuan Daily/Zhao Ruoyan and Wang Meiling)

Sichuan-Republic of Tatarstan Business Forum Held in Chengdu

From October 9^th to 10^th, a delegation of the Republic of Tatarstan paid a visit to Sichuan. The Sichuan—Republic of Tatarstan Business Forum was held in Chengdu on October 10^th, which provides a chance to both parties to learn more about the other party’s development status and discover opportunities to cooperate in areas of industry, economy & trade as well as technical innovation. Qumu Shiha, Vice Governor of Sichuan, and Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan attended the forum and each gave a speech.

The Republic of Tatarstan, covering 68,000 sq. miles with a population of 3.8 million, is an autonomous republic belonging to theRussian Federation. The sixty person delegation consisted of multiple senior officers and Ｅxecutives of major enterprises in the Republic of Tatarstan. Gafarov, Deputy Prime-Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan and Minister of the Industrial Trade Department, was a member of the delegation. It was the first delegation of such a scale and involved senior leaders that were sent by the country toChina. 

"There is a lot of room for cooperation between Sichuan andRussia. The Sino-Russian Cooperation of the Two River Regions is a significant platform for the opening up of Sichuan. The 4^th Meeting of Leaders related to cooperation held in Chengdu in August 2015 promoted the opening up of Sichuan." Qumu Shiha said in his speech. With developed mechanization in its industry and agriculture, the country is a good complement to Sichuan's. On the principle of mutual benefits and win-win cooperation, Sichuan has devoted itself to the exchange and cooperation with the country in infrastructure development, equipment manufacturing, agriculture and cultural tourism.

"Cooperation with Sichuan is highly valued in my country," said Minnikhanov. "A contract of cooperation was just reached this August. We sent many corporate representatives here to promote and perform the projects under the contract." "It is believed that the Russian Republic of Tatarstan enjoys the most advanced and developed industries including a developed petrochemical industry as well as a manufacturing industry in machinery like aircraft and ships. Scientific innovation and the IT industry are still considered a top priority of the country," said Minnikhanov. "It is hoped that our country will be the first stop when your enterprises plan to start businesses inRussia. We are well-prepared for it," he added. He emphasized he was looking for further cooperation with Sichuan.

Following the forum, a Major Project Fair was held with the political and corporate representatives of both parties involved. Such areas of equipment manufacturing, aerospace, infrastructure, trade, agricultural products, forestry foodstuffs and tourism were discussed in the fair by different groups. (October 11^th, Sichuan Daily/Liu Miaomiao)

2015 International Conference of the Application of Informatization Held in Mianyang

The 2015 International Conference for the Application of Informatization & the 2^nd Sino-Russian Information Security Technology Summit Forum was held in Mianyang on October 12^th. Relevant experts from the World Federation of Scientific Workers, Russian Academy of Architectural and Engineering Sciences and Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, 400 representatives from well-known domestic enterprises and scientific research institutions gathered to discuss the information technology application prospects in digital energy, medical treatment, public health and other fields.

In 2014, the electronic information industry in China realized a total sales revenue of RMB 14 trillion with a year-on-year growth of 13%, in which the software & IT service industries became one of the most rapidly developing with a revenue that amounted to RMB 3.7 trillion, up 20.2% year on year. The experts will seek Sino-Russian cooperation space in the development of related technologies and industries in the summit by discussing hot topics including big data and Internet plus. (October 12^th, Sichuan Daily/Zu Mingyuan)

2015China(Sichuan) E-Commerce Development Summit Held in Mianyang

The 2015 China (Sichuan) E-Commerce Development Summit was held in Mianyang on the morning of October 15^th. It was also the first national e-commerce summit held in central and westernChina. Wei Hong, Vice Secretary of Sichuan Provincial Party Committee & Governor of Sichuan Province, announced the commencement of the summit and addressed a speech. Liu Qiangdong, Board Chairman & CEO of jd.com, Tang Yizhi, Senior Vice President of vip.com, Chen Ou, founder & CEO of jumei.com, Sun Weimin, Vice President of Suning Corporation, Liu Yonghao, President of New Hope Group and Li Guoqing, founder & CEO of dangdang.com all addressed keynote speeches in the main forum after the opening ceremony.

In addition to the main forum, the summit also held an e-commerce innovation & development forum, multiple subject forums including rural and cross-border e-commerce as well as an e-commerce integration exhibition. There were over 200 well-known e-commerce platforms at home and abroad, 1,200 manufacturing and trade circulation enterprises participating in the summit with tens of thousands of commodities which attracted over 300,000 visitors.

The summit also held a project signing & awarding ceremony in which 60 projects signed contracts with a total value of RMB 4.455 billion, 49 of which were from Mianyang, the others were from other cities and preferences in Sichuan.

On the awarding ceremony, Fucheng District of Mianyang City was awarded the Sichuan All-Round Innovation & Comprehensive Reform (E-Commerce) Pilot Area by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce; Jiangyou City was awarded the E-Commerce O2O Demonstration Center by the China Electronic Commerce Association. (October 16^th, Sichuan Daily/Hu Yanshu and Zeng Xiaoqing)

CCPIT Sichuan Council

Sichuan Agricultural Delegation VisitedRussia,SwitzerlandandItalyfor Economic and Trade Activities

According to the plan of the Enterprises Going Abroad activities, From 15^th to 24^th in September, the CCPIT Sichuan Council and Sichuan Provincial Agricultural Department jointly organized an agricultural delegation of 80 members from 45 enterprises and visited Russia, Switzerland and Italy to attend the 2015 World Food Moscow, hold the Sichuan Special Event at Expo Milano 2015 and launch related trade projects.

I. Attending the 2015 World Food Moscow

2015 was the third year that the CCPIT Sichuan Council and Sichuan Provincial Agricultural Department jointly organized enterprises to attend the 2015 World Food Moscow, including 17 exhibitors. They showcased their products across 14 joint stands and were the most visited with the best exhibition effect. Many industries including fruits, pickles, forest products and tea participated in the event. Across the four days the expo was held, our exhibitors held one-to-one trade talks with 248 professional purchasers from Russia and other countries like Dubai and made remarkable achievements by concluding export agreements of intent that totaled to the amount of USD 212 million.

The 28 visitor enterprises were spread across the fruits, vegetables, meat products, seasoning and other industries. They had positive interactions with the exhibitors, exchanged contact information, held initial trade talks and made product consultations with more than 60 exhibitors, traders, dealers and resellers fromRussia, theUnited Arab Emirates,Italy, the Republic of Korea andSouth Africa. During the exhibition, the delegation also held Agricultural Products from Chengdu· the Moscow International Food Promotion Conference together with the Sino-Russian Trade Promotion Center, Asian-European International Trade Promotion Chamber of Commerce and Russia Agricultural University. More than 30 Russian agricultural enterprises held docking discussions with Sichuan enterprises. They gained firsthand data, deepened their further understanding to each other thus making good response.

II. Holding the Sichuan Special Event in Expo Milano 2015

On September 22^nd, the delegation held the Sichuan Special Event in Expo Milano 2015 centered on the Land of Abundance · A Charming Sichuan in the exhibition area of Expo Milano. More than 140 individuals participated in the activity, which were members of the Sichuan delegation, officials of the organizing committee of Expo Milano 2015, the deputy director of China Pavilion, related government officials from Italian districts, directors or government representatives of national pavilions concerned with Expo Milano 2015 as well as Italian entrepreneurs. This was the second time after attending Expo 2010 Shanghai that Sichuan province utilized the unique space the Expo provided, an international stage, to introduce Sichuan to the world.

The opening ceremony was held on a small stage outside the China Pavilion. Edoardo Alzetta, Event Manager of the Organizing Committee of Expo Milano 2015, Wang Rui, Deputy Director of the China Pavilion, Raffacle Farella, Director of the Internationalization & Foreign Relations Office of the Autonomous Province of Trento, Feng Liang, Deputy Inspector of the Sichuan Provincial Agricultural Department and Su Hongyi, Secretary of Departments of the CCPIT Sichuan Council all addressed speeches respectively during the opening ceremony. Those attending the expo from all over the world were also attracted to the small stage of the China Pavilion. They accepted publicity materials about Sichuan Province and asked for additional information on trade development and tourism in Sichuan.

After the opening ceremony, the Agriculture Promotion Conference of the Sichuan Special Event in Expo Milano 2015 was held at the China Pavilion. Sichuan Province of China and Lombardy Region of Italy were specially introduced during the conference. Through preliminary talks, corporate representatives from Sichuan andItalystepped up communication and discussion during the conference. Remarkable achievements were achieved from these one-to-one trade talks that were discussed between 45 Italian representatives from enterprises and chambers of commerce and 45 Sichuan corporate representatives.

III. Delegation Visited Related Trade Institutions from Russia,Switzerland,Italyand Other Countries During their Visit.

During the visit, the delegation paid a visit to institutions including the RF CCI, CCPIT Office in Russia, the Wädenswil Research Station of the Switzerland Notional Agricultural Research Center, Gudensburg Farm and Veneto Trade Promotion Center. Our connections with the aforementioned institutions were further enhanced, and it also laid the groundwork for leading Sichuan enterprises abroad.

President Li Gang Met with Lieutenant Governor Owen of Washington and His Delegation

On the afternoon of October 16^th, 2015, President Li Gang of CCPIT Sichuan Council met with Lieutenant Governor Owen of Washington and his delegation.

President Li Gang firstly extended his sincerest greetings to the visiting of Lieutenant Governor Owen and his delegation. He also expressed his gratitude to Lieutenant Governor Owen and the friendship institutions in Washington State for their continued support. He said that theUnited Statesis the largest trade partner for Sichuan and Sichuan is one of their most important economic and trading partners in westernChina. He also said that through official and civilian platforms over the years, both parties had carried out pragmatic cooperation and obtained plenteous achievements in economic, cultural, scientific & technological and other fields. The CCPIT Sichuan Council is planning to organize a business delegation to hold economic and trading events in Washington State in 2016 and hold Chengdu International Trade Fair for Automotive Parts and Aftermarket Services andChina(Chengdu) International Intellectual Life EXPO simultaneously. He also suggested that both parties should continue to communicate and make progress with each other while consolidating existing cooperation results to compose a new chapter of their cooperation.

Lieutenant Governor Owen expressed his gratitude for the reception on behalf of his delegation. He reviewed the cooperative history between Washington State and Sichuan Province and introduced the contents of his visit and results that it achieved. He said that since the founding of the sister state-province relationship in 1982, Washington State has made pleasant achievements with Sichuan Province, and that it was his third time to lead a delegation visiting Sichuan. He was willing to strengthen cooperation with the CCPIT Sichuan Council, and both parties jointly held related events. He invited President Li Gang to visit theUnited Statesnext year.  

After the meeting, President Li Gang and Lieutenant Governor Owen jointly attended the unveiling ceremonies of the Washington State Sichuan Province Chamber of Commerce and Institute of International Culture & Education.

Vice President Lv Furong and Deputy Inspector Wang Youping of the CCPIT Sichuan Council, Deputy Inspector Guo Jianong of the Department of Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs, Sichuan Provincial People’s Government and individuals in charge of departments of the CCPIT Sichuan Council were in attendance at the aforementioned events.