Wang Jiang: Overseas Enterprises Can Collaborate Through Overseas Parks

Dear Mr. Walid Jamaldin, Chairman of the Suez Special Administrative Region of Egypt, Mr. Wublikasmu Maitu, Deputy Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce, Mr. Lang Dong, Second Inspector of the Tianjin Bureau of Commerce, Mr. An Zhengyi Counsellor of the Consulate General of Egypt in Shanghai, Mr. Yu Chaorui, Vice President of the China-Africa Development Fund, ladies, gentlemen and friends:

Good morning, everyone! The traditional Chinese solar term Xiao Man has just passed, and it is a beautiful season when everything is booming, green and full of infinite vitality. I am honored to attend the "Silk Road Escort and African Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone-Zhejiang Matchmaking Conference" to discuss and exchange with leaders, experts, and friends from the business community.

The China-Africa Non-governmental Chamber of Commerce is a national and international chamber of commerce jointly initiated by the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee, the Ministry of Commerce, and the United Nations Development Program. With the consent of the central leadership and the approval of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, it was formally established on October 23, 2006. As a model of cooperation among government departments, private enterprises and United Nations agencies, the China-Africa Chamber of Commerce has successively obtained the "comprehensive observer status" of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (the first of the National Chamber of Commerce) and the "special consultative status" of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2017 ". The Chamber of Commerce has always adhered to the concept of "culture first, justice and benefit, and win-win cooperation", and actively guides and serves Chinese companies to "enter Africa, integrate into Africa, and build Africa".

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed a new development pattern and a high level of opening to the outside world. Based on the new stage of China's development and changes in environmental conditions, we will build a new development pattern and focus on shaping new advantages in international cooperation and competition. As the development agenda and economic cooperation program of China's initiative, "Belt and Road Initiative" is to establish a partnership of connectivity with the countries jointly built, so as to achieve coordinated development.

The investment of Chinese enterprises in Africa shows strong resilience, and also has great potential and opportunities. China-Africa relations have maintained a high level of operation. Under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China has successively announced "eight major actions" and "nine projects" against Africa ". Chinese companies have participated in the economic construction of African countries in terms of trade, infrastructure, investment and financing, industrial parks, agricultural development, processing and manufacturing, etc., and the areas of cooperation are also expanding to emerging fields such as digital economy, financial technology, clean energy, and health. There are also many new kinetic energy for cooperation that are also gaining momentum. Many products with African characteristics have entered the Chinese market and sold well across the network. At the Dakar meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2021, China announced that it will strive to import US $300 billion of products from Africa in the next three years from 2021, and support Chinese companies to increase investment in Africa.

In the process of "going out", enterprises are also faced with various problems that have not been encountered in China and are difficult for individual enterprises to coordinate. A very important way is to use the construction of industrial parks as the carrier to form industrial clusters. The African Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone is the place where Chinese companies invest in Africa. This foothold should have the positioning of coordinating security, finance, investment environment, and economic policy issues, and help companies in the park solve internationalization, localization and compliance issues.

According to statistics, Chinese enterprises have participated in the planning, construction and operation of more than 50 industrial parks and 25 holding parks in African countries. Among them, the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, the Laiki Free Trade Zone in Nigeria, and the Benin Center are successful examples of Chinese-funded enterprises building and operating industrial parks overseas. Through the carrier of the park, enterprises can extend the industrial chain through vertical and horizontal cooperation, increase the agglomeration effect and scale effect of transnational operation, and keep warm in the aspects of resource allocation, information sharing, risk prevention and so on.

Today, May 25, is the 60th Africa Day. We gather in Hangzhou to attend the "Silk Road Escort and African Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone-Zhejiang Matchmaking Conference" for the development of China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone and Nigeria's Laiki Industrial Park. It is very meaningful! The two cooperation zones are key cooperation projects between China and Egypt and China and Nepal in the fields of strategic docking, production capacity cooperation, trade and investment. While realizing the "single point breakthrough", China-Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd. actively explores the cross-regional replication of "from 1 to N" in the development of overseas parks, combined with the actual national conditions of overseas countries, summed up and refined a set of development models for China's overseas economic and trade cooperation zones-"TEDA overseas model". We believe that with the joint efforts of the leaders and colleagues of China-Africa TEDA, and the care and support of friends from all walks of life, the cooperation zone will become a model of high-quality opening up!

Finally, I wish this meeting a complete success and fruitful results!

Thank you all!

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