Qingdao is hosting the SCO Ambassadors Club's visiting session, with the participants doing most of their work on the second day of their packed meeting that began at 8 am and ended late at night.
In the early morning of 20 May, delegation members were taken on a guided tour of Qingdao port, a major Asia Pacific hub that has become a vital transshipment area for quickly handling freight from the Asia Pacific region to Central Asian countries, Russia and Europe. Club members were shown the port's modern technological potential, advanced technologies, and they also saw how the production process was organised.
While visiting the Industrial Park of Eurasian Trade and Economic Cooperation, Club members learned about the work of a multi-modal logistics centre and promising projects, and inspected key facilities on its territory. The guests attended a detailed presentation of the park's potential, primarily in the context of streamlining trade and economic cooperation with SCO member states.
Delegation members attended a roundtable discussion on expanded regional cooperation between the Qingdao trade and industrial cluster and SCO member states at the invitation of Mr Zhang Youyu, Mayor of Jiaozhou, the largest administrative district of Qingdao. The roundtable discussion also involved the Mayor of Jiaozhou, senior Shandong Province and local-administration officials. SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to China Shakhrat Nuryshev and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to China Andrei Denisov also took part in the debates.
At the end of the working programme, Club members met with business community representatives and learned about the proposals of Qingdao business people on streamlining cooperation with the companies of SCO member states, including those involving financial resources of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. They focused on expanding tourist cooperation.
The cultural programme of the Club's visiting session included a guided tour of the well-known local cinema-history centre "1907." The participants took part in opening the centre after restoration and admired the centre's unique exhibits dealing with the history of the global and Chinese cinema industries.
Qingdao seaport is the world's seventh largest in terms of its freight turnover. It acts as a transshipment centre, handling freight from Asia Pacific countries to those in Central Asia and back. The 2016 freight turnover between Qingdao and SCO member states totaled $2.6 billion.
The Industrial Park of Eurasian Trade and Economic Cooperation is a key Chinese facility of trans-border cooperation for implementing international projects with foreign capital in various economic areas. The park includes a multi-modal logistics centre already involving companies from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.