The RCEP Sister Cities Cooperation Forum took place in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, on March 24 both online and offline, marking the opening of the Collaborative Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference.
Zhao Jianjun, mayor of Wuxi, said at the forum that Wuxi boasts close economic ties with members of the RCEP, or the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Zhao expressed hope that the participants of the forum would explore international cooperation amid the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve higher-level trade in goods and more convenient trade in services.
He added that Wuxi would offer a comfortable and favorable environment for people to live, start businesses, and tour.
Deng Xijun, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN, gives an online speech at the RCEP Sister Cities Cooperation Forum which took place in Wuxi on March 24. [Photo/WeChat account: wuxidaily]
Deng Xijun, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN, said in his online speech that the RCEP will bring great development opportunities to the Asia-Pacific region, boost the growth of regional trade and investment, and make the region a new driver of the world's economic growth.
Deng expects that Wuxi and its sister cities would make full use of the opportunities created by the RCEP agreement to foster more cooperation.
Officials from Sihanoukville of Cambodia, Hamilton of New Zealand, Ulsan of South Korea, Puerto Princesa City of the Philippines, and other sister cities of Wuxi then spoke about topics including economic recovery, the improvement of business environment, and the sharing of information concerning policies.
Experts and entrepreneurs from China, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, and other countries also shared their ideas on the promotion of higher-level sister-city relations with Wuxi.
The RCEP, which comprises the 10 ASEAN members and its key trade partners, covers roughly 30 percent of the world's gross domestic product and population.
As the world's largest trading bloc, it will eliminate 90 percent of tariffs on goods traded among its signatories over the next 20 years.
