By Shi Weipan

On 11th June local time, ‘Yangtze River Delta Development Opportunities —— Nantong ‘Hao Tong’’ Nantong Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum was held in Tokyo. More than 120 guests participated in the forum.

Wu Xinming, Party Secretary of Nantong, said that from Jianzhen sailing to Japan from Nantong in the Tang Dynasty, to Mr. Zhang Jian going to Japan for learning and research and starting early modernization exploration in Nantong in the modern times, to the first Sino-Japanese joint venture in Jiangsu settling in Nantong after the Reform and Opening-up, to the mutual help and support between Nantong and its sister cities Toyohashi and Izumi in Japan during the covid-19 pandemic, Nantong and Japan’s exchanges and interactions have a long history and are ever-lasting. Japan is an important trade partner and the second largest foreign investment source of Nantong. He hoped that exchanges could be strengthened in multiple fields, multiple channels and multiple levels, and more practical cooperation could be carried out in aspects including economic and trade exchange, industrial development, and cultural tourism, to contribute more to the promotion of the development of relationships between China and Japan.

Yūji Miyamoto, the former Japanese Ambassador to China, Acting President of Japan-China Friendship Center, and Chairman of Japan Asian Community Culture Cooperation Organization, said in his speech that Japan and Nantong have close economic and trade interactions and broad cooperation space. Nantong’s location, service environment and development potential are deeply favoured by Japanese companies. The path of cooperation and development between Japan and Nantong is bound to become wider and broader.

Luo Xiaomei, Economic and Commercial Counselor of Chinese Embassy in Japan, said in her speech that they welcomed friends in the Japanese business community to use the forum as an opportunity, to increase mutual understanding and explore cooperation potential, and carry out more practical cooperation with Chinese companies to achieve mutual benefits. Embassy of China in Japan will continue to provide full support as always.

At the forum, people in charge of Japan International Trade Promotion Association, Polyplastics, and Daio Paper Corporation delivered speeches one by one. 8 cooperative projects with enterprises and organizations such as Japan China Economic Relations and Trade Center and ITOCHU Corporation were signed on site.

Wu Xinming and the delegation also visited the headquarters of several well-known Japanese invested companies including Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Toray, and Towa Corporation, had in-depth communication with people in charge of the enterprises, promoted the investment environment, and talked about the acceleration of settlement of cooperative projects, to promote more fruitful achievements in economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges with Japan.