Industrial conference plays key role in strengthening Yunfu-RCEP ties

The 4th China (Yunfu, Guangdong) – RCEP Industrial Cooperation Conference, which kicked off in Xinxing county, Guangdong province, on Saturday, has served as a vital platform for Yunfu, a mountainous city, to deepen cooperation with Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership member states.

Under the theme "Connecting the World, Sharing the Future", the two-day event attracted around 350 Chinese and foreign participants, organizers said. They included more than 200 foreign officials from RCEP member states, diplomatic missions in China, representatives of overseas chambers of commerce and the current Canton Fair participants.

Over the four years, RCEP member states have remained Yunfu's largest trading partner, with 22 international cooperation projects valued at more than 3.2 billion yuan ($477.61 million) having been secured during the previous three sessions, statistics from the event's organizing committee have revealed.

Tommy Susanto Tan, chairman of the Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association, said Yunfu's stone products and stainless steel tableware and kitchenware match Indonesia's demand in construction, hospitality and household consumption sectors.

Xu Ningning, a senior expert in RCEP economic and trade cooperation, said this year is the fifth year of RCEP's implementation.

China's trade with RCEP members posted steady growth between January and August, and Guangdong has kept expanding its imports and exports with RCEP nations.

"This demonstrates the robust resilience of regional free-trade cooperation," Xu said.

"We will keep fostering matchmaking channels to attract more premium resources to Yunfu and expand their influence throughout the entire RCEP region," he added.

According to organizers, this year's event continues to prioritize three trillion-yuan industrial clusters, including green building materials, metal intelligent manufacturing and modern agriculture.

And for the first time, the big health industry has been added to its core promotion portfolio this year, organizers said.

Located in the central-western part of Guangdong, Yunfu, which borders the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and administers Xinxing, is known as Guangdong's "western gateway". The city is also called China's "Zen Capital", "Stone Capital" and "Sulfur Capital".