Sichuan - the land of the pandas - aims to propel its economic ties with Hong Kong to a new height as a fitting tribute to the nation's four decades of historic reform and opening-up.
The southwestern province sees the special administrative region as a great partner in promoting its allure as a national transport and logistics hub, and gateway to the western part of the country.
"There's a need, a possibility and a vision of closer collaboration between Sichuan and Hong Kong in this area that could be crucial in taking our ties to a new height," Peng Qinghua, secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, told a symposium in Hong Kong on Wednesday aimed at beefing up opportunities for cooperation in the logistics and transport fields.
"Such an ambition has its roots in the inland province's pressing demand for a higher level of opening-up and development. It's also in line with Hong Kong's unremitting efforts to fortify its ties with the heartland of the Chinese mainland," he said.
The symposium is part of the Sichuan-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation Week, signifying the province's resolve to jump onto the Belt and Road bandwagon and open its doors wider to the outside world.
A host of bilateral cooperation pacts have been inked, embracing a wide range of businesses, including logistics warehousing, supply chain services, free trade zones and railway investment.
Strategically located along the BRI route and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Sichuan applauds the potentially vast pool of opportunities created by the nation's vision of reviving its ancient trade route and building up the world-class industry clusters along the Yangtze River.
Hong Kong - one of the world's three major free trade ports and a leading container distribution hub - has long been Sichuan's largest source of overseas direct investment and is the province's fourth-largest trading partner.
Sichuan, with its logistics and transport potentials up for grabs, hopes to take a leaf from Hong Kong to cement its role as a major connecting hub and port of entry into Asian countries and regions and Europe, said Peng.
"As a pivot city of the Belt and Road Initiative having the best of both worlds, Hong Kong is more than willing to share its expertise and join forces with Sichuan in exploring the golden opportunities in opening up new efficient logistics channels," Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor told the conference.
More than half of the air-cargo throughput between Sichuan and Hong Kong, for instance, are for the re-export trade. This underpins the SAR's impeccable strengths as a regional logistics and re-export hub to help "Made in Sichuan" products and brands go abroad with its international transport network and know-how, Lam said.
As part of a package of measures to sharpen its edge in logistics and transport, Sichuan is forging ahead with the construction of a new mega aviation project - Chengdu Tianfu International Airport.
The new airport, due to open by 2020 and operate alongside the existing Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport - one of the world's 30 busiest airports and the fourth-busiest airport on the Chinese mainland - puts the provincial capital on track to become the third mainland city after Shanghai and Beijing to have a second international airport. (Source: China Daily)
Previous：Nine Cities in Eastern China's Yangtze River Region to Ease Entry for Foreign Companies to Establish Business
Next：China to Adopt Stricter Enforcement Measures to Boost Innovation and Business Environment