Business leaders eye deeper manufacturing links with China

Members of a delegation of foreign diplomats and business heavyweights from Hong Kong said they were impressed by China’s rapid developments in the manufacturing of high-end products and green vehicles, and hoped to step up cooperation with the mainland in these fields.

The delegation, led by Liu Guangyuan, commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR, is on a weeklong visit to Henan and Shaanxi provinces to tap business opportunities under the Belt and Road Initiative and strengthen cultural ties.

The visitors, spending the second day of their first stop in Henan, visited a host of leading enterprises on Sunday - including a bus factory of Yutong Bus, a leading manufacturer of new-energy buses and coaches; a factory of China Railway Engineering Equipment Group; and BAA (China) Training Center — a modern simulator aviation training centre.

At a new-energy manufacturing base of Yutong, members of the Hong Kong delegation saw performance tests of electricity-driven buses, including their climbing and wading capabilities, and toured a vehicle assembly workshop at a plant of the company.

The visitors also went to a factory of China Railway Engineering Equipment Group, which manufactures a complete range of tunneling equipment, such as tunnel boring machines used in the construction of bridges, highways and railways.

BAA (China) Training Center, which was launched in 2020, is an important supporting infrastructure under the Air Silk Road program, which currently operates airfreight services between Zhengzhou and Luxembourg. Air Silk Road has become a key cooperation project under the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as a driver of Henan’s aviation industry.

Wilhelm Brauner, who chairs the Austrian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong and Macau, told a business promotion the visit has showcased China’s prowess in rail, aviation and new-energy vehicles.

Brauner recalled his last visit to Henan in 1995 and said there have been dramatic changes in this region in the past few decades. He hopes to encourage members of his chamber and their home countries to strengthen cooperation with China.

He also expects tourism to significantly contribute to Henan’s economy, saying Austrian tourism experts are eager to share their experiences with their counterparts in Henan.

Benjamin Sigg, co-president of the Swiss Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said he was greatly impressed by mainland enterprises, not only with their scale of operations, but also their achievements in their respective areas.

Referring to the various types of new-energy vehicles the delegation saw in Zhengzhou on Sunday, Sigg said he hopes Switzerland can import some of them in the future and deepen cooperation with China in green energy.

Buhari Sirait, consul of customs at the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in the HKSAR, said he was particularly interested in CREG’s tunnel-boring machines.

Ayu Sagita, consul of trades at the Indonesian Consulate General in Hong Kong, said Henan’s rapid growth in trade and transportation impressed her most. She looks forward to exploring business opportunities in logistics during the delegation’s visit to the mainland’s inland provinces.

The delegation also toured historical and cultural sites on Monday, including Shaolin Temple in Zhengzhou and Longmen Garrotes in Luoyang. The visitors will proceed to Xi’an and Yan’an in Shaanxi province in the next few days before wrapping up their tour on Friday (Jun 30).

(Staff reporter and China Daily)