Foreigners get an in-depth tour of Chongqing

More than 100 foreign guests from 16 foreign consulates in Chongqing and Sichuan, along with 19 foreign institutions and media organizations, participated in a two-day tour of Chongqing starting on Friday to promote cooperation and cultural exchanges.

A themed event — "@Chongqing@World" — promoted by the Chongqing Foreign Affairs Office this year, includes a series of foreign affairs activities and aims to create opportunities for exchanges and cooperation between Chongqing and foreign countries. The two-day tour in Liangping, which kicked off the event, was jointly held by the office and the local government.

Guests visited the local pre-made food base, the Shuanggui Temple and the Baili Bamboo Sea. On Friday night, a grand drone and fireworks show was staged at a park in the district to celebrate Lantern Festival, which fell on Sunday.

"It is a really great event on the occasion of the Chinese New Year," said Huub Buise, consul-general of the Netherlands in Chongqing. "I think everybody is very happy to be here, and to meet with the local authorities, colleagues and friends."

"We are positive that 2023 will be a year in which our relations will be intensified," Buise said.

Liangping, located in the northeastern part of the Chongqing municipality, is known as an international wetland city — the only one in southwestern China.

"The district is striving to become a pre-made food center in western China," said Chen Mengwen, head of Liangping district.

According to a report released by market research firm CCID Consulting in January, Liangping ranks at the top of China's list of pre-made food bases in 2023.

"We will definitely pay attention to the industry in Liangping," said Paolo Bazzoni, president of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, who added that match-making in business will be promoted in the chamber, which represents almost 900 Italian companies around China, as well as its working groups.

He noted that as one of the countries with sustainable food processing globally, and high-quality food and beverages, Italy might show interest in potential collaboration with Liangping — for example, in food packaging.

According to Huang Jun, an official from the district, the local government is building a 23.3-hectare pre-made food purchasing base, including a distribution center and a cold chain logistics center.

"By 2025 and 2030, the pre-made food industry chain scale in Liangping will reach 50 billion yuan ($7.35 billion), and 100 billion yuan respectively," Huang said.