Guangdong province held a government-enterprise online dialogue on June 30 to optimizing its business environment and improve its competitive edge on the global stage in two main venues, Guangdong and Beijing. About 200 people attended the meeting both on-site and online.

Zhang Shenfeng, vice president of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), pointed out in his speech that the COVID-19 epidemic has brought unprecedented impacts on global economic and social development. But the fundamentals of China’s long-term economic improvement have not changed and will remain an important engine and source of stability for the world’s economic recovery.

Zhang Xin, vice governor of the province, said the continuous optimization of the business environment is vital for Guangdong to promote the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and support Shenzhen in building a demonstration pilot zone for socialism with Chinese characteristics. He encouraged people to "say all you know and say it without reserve", and jointly create a fertile soil for Chinese and foreign companies to take root.

The conference also invited representatives from institutions such as the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Guangzhou Office to share their thoughts.

George Lau, chairman of the South China Chapter of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EuCham), said that Guangdong's business environment has always been in a leading position in the country. The EuCham will work with the local government to achieve the best international business environmental standards. He also stressed that the Greater Bay Area development plan is of great concern to European Union companies, and he hopes that both parties can cooperate to further promote the GBA policies for enterprises.

Departments in Guangdong provincial government introduced the current situation of the Greater Bay Area and some measures for stabilizing foreign trade and investment in Guangdong under the epidemic prevention and control. Representatives of the participating enterprises also propounded many constructive suggestions on the difficulties and challenges they met in the development.

The dialogue was jointly organized by the CCPIT, the CCPIT Guangdong, and the Investment Promotion Center of CCPIT.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the CCPIT has successfully held three online government-enterprises dialogues in Shandong, Sichuan and Guangdong. The dialogues have reflected most companies’ demands and have solved their problems effectively.

In 2020, the CCPIT Guangdong has held 16 policy briefings, 26 international commercial law courses, and has issued more than 1,000 trade and warning messages, 1,320 force majeure certificates, involving a contract value of 61.67 billion yuan (about $8.7 billion).

Written by Ariel

Edited by Keane, Jerry

Video edited by Keane