Speech by Commissioner Liu Guangyuan at the launching ceremony of a visit to key mainland cities under the “Belt and Road Initiative” for foreign consular corps and the business community in Hong Kong

9:30 am, June 24, 2023

Distinguished guests, dear friends,

Good morning!

Welcome to the launching ceremony. It’s a great pleasure for me to meet with all the old and new friends.

Henan province and Shaanxi province are both important cradles of the Chinese nation and civilization. In history, they left brilliant marks on the ancient Silk Road. And today, these two hinterland provinces have developed into forefronts of opening-up under the “Belt and Road Initiative” and both enjoy broad development space.

During the trip, we will visit Zhengzhou and Luoyang in Henan province, my hometown province, and Xi’an and Yan’an in Shaanxi province. The trip will show us the unique charm of the two provinces and huge business opportunities there brought about by the high-quality development in Central and Western China.

Dear friends, I believe the journey will impress us from at least three aspects.

First, the opening-up vitality of inland cities. 

The “Belt and Road Initiative” has revitalized the Eurasian Continent and promoted inland provinces and cities to the frontiers of opening-up. Today, more than one-fourth of China-Europe freight trains depart from Shaanxi and Henan.

A network of air routes connecting all major economies has been established in Zhengzhou Airport and opening-up platforms such as the free trade pilot zones in Henan and Shaanxi are well underway. Moreover, the business environment of the two provinces continue to improve, and their “circles of overseas friends” continue to expand.

During the visit, the principal leaders of the two provinces and the four cities will host meetings and promotions to brief us on local development achievements, industrial policies, and market opportunities. We will also experience in-person the new changes and rapid development of inland cities under the Belt and Road Initiative by visiting the China-Europe train assembly center in Xi’an and the airport hub in Zhengzhou.

Second, the surging momentum of sci-tech innovation and green development.

Central and Western China, including Henan and Shaanxi, are key ecological shields in China. Over the years, Henan and Shaanxi, under the principle that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”, have attached great importance to green, low-carbon and innovation-driven growth, and committed themselves to building industrial clusters in advanced manufacturing, new energy, modern agriculture, cultural tourism, and strategic emerging sectors.

We will have a tour of the workshops of three tech-intensive green products, namely electric vehicles, solar batteries, and lithium batteries, which are three new top drivers of China’s foreign trade. By visiting those places, we will better understand the international cooperation in the production of heavy-duty machinery such as shield machines and excavators, and see with our own eyes the strong driving force and broad opportunities in the two provinces created by major national strategies such as the “development of Western China”.

Third, the Chinese culture of promoting harmony with all nations.

Henan and Shaanxi both enjoy long-standing history and splendid culture, and they are home to five of China’s eight ancient capitals. For any international friend who wants to “understand China”, Henan and Shaanxi are must-visit places.

There are a lot of cultural elements in this visit. We will go to the Shaolin Temple, the Longmen Grottoes, the Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum, and will watch live shows to experience traditional Chinese values of harmony, kindness and good neighborliness and understand the cultural roots of the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind.

We will also visit Baota Mountain and Yangjialing revolutionary site in Yan’an to understand how the Communist Party of China’s developed under difficult conditions over the past century and why today’s China is a well-governed society.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Over the past decade, by opening wider to the world through the Belt and Road Initiative, China has injected huge impetus into the world economic development and set up various platforms for building a community with a shared future.

As a “super connector” between the mainland and the world, Hong Kong has both the ability and willingness to participate in and contribute to the Belt and Road cooperation. By integrating into China’s new development paradigm under the the dual-circulation economic strategy, Hong Kong can achieve its own better development, which also means a bigger stage and more opportunities for foreign business friends in Hong Kong.

Dear friends, we hope all of you to make best use of the platform of Hong Kong to strengthen win-win cooperation with Henan, Shaanxi and other inland provinces of China to further tap into the mainland market, and more actively participate in Belt and Road cooperation.

I believe it will be a most rewarding and worthy trip for all of us!

Thank you and let's go!