China's Macao Special Administrative Region and Zhongshan City of neighboring Guangdong Province on Saturday launched a two-day event on facilitating business ties.
At the launch ceremony, institutions from the two places signed a series of agreements covering areas including business cooperation, healthcare services overseas expansion, and tourism integration to promote resource complementarity and strengthen industrial and market ties.
Wu Keng Kuong, president of the board of directors of the Travel Industry Council of Macao, highlighted the potential for joint tourism development.
"Zhongshan and Macao have maintained close cooperation. With these new agreements, I believe that in the future, the tourism industry of Macao and Zhongshan can jointly develop multi-destination travel routes, creating opportunities for complementary growth," said Wu.
The event also featured six exhibition zones covering food, cultural tourism, home appliances, and home furnishings. It offered visitors a glimpse into Zhongshan's latest achievements in scientific and technological innovation, manufacturing, tourism, and intangible cultural heritage preservation.
"The six exhibition areas have attracted over 100 companies, showcasing Zhongshan's achievements in various fields including intelligent manufacturing, culture, and economic and trade development," said Wang Jin, deputy director of Zhongshan's Bureau of Commerce.
Wang said she hoped the event would further promote economic, trade, and cultural exchanges between Zhongshan and Macao, and deepen cooperation between Zhongshan and Portuguese-speaking countries.
"We saw many products from Zhongshan on display at this event. We can leverage Macao's tourism resources and its role as the bridge between China and Portuguese-speaking countries to promote Zhongshan's products to these countries and even to the world," said Un Chong Wa from Macao Human Resources Association.
Macao, Zhongshan City hold event to promote business ties
Spanish students have expressed their expectation that a healthy China-U.S. economic and trade relationship will inject greater stability into the global economy and create greater opportunities for Spain.
On Sunday, Chinese and U.S. delegations convened in Paris, France for talks on economic and trade issues. Guided by the consensus reached by the two heads of state in Busan and their subsequent phone talks, the two sides will conduct consultations on economic and trade matters of mutual concern.
Ahead of the talks, members of the public in Madrid, Spain, shared their views on China–U.S. economic and trade relations with China Media Group (CMG). They agreed that reaching an agreement between the world’s two largest economies would have a direct impact on the global landscape.
"They are the two countries that contribute the most economically, in a manner of speaking, to the rest of the countries. They are major importers and exporters. So I think that a satisfactory relationship between them can be very beneficial for all other countries," said Claudia, an engineering student.
Noting that both sides are important trading partners of Spain, the interviewees stated that a healthy, stable and sustainable China-U.S. economic and trade relationship also affects various aspects of the Spanish society, and that agreements between the two countries would help promote Spain's economic growth.
"I do think that it could have a certain effect on the Spanish economy, both in terms of prices, and I would dare say employment as well. Because I think that if those two great powers reach an agreement, Spain could also get in on the action. It would create quite a few jobs in Chinese and American multinationals for all Spaniards," said Claudia.
"Spain is caught in the middle; it has good relations with both the U.S. and China. If it gets on the bad side of either one, it could be hit hard, because Spain mainly relies on tourism -- well, other things too, but essentially tourism, construction and agriculture. It's very important to have more help and trade with all countries around the world," said Denis, a law student.
Spanish students say stable China-US ties benefit global economy
