On 19 January 2020, the Chongqing People's Government hosted a New Year reception on the occasion of the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) for diplomats accredited in China.
Chongqing Vice Mayor Li Bo opened the event. He congratulated the guests on behalf of the Chongqing People's Government, told them about the city's development over the past years, spoke about its potential in trade, the economy, tourism and the environment, and called on the diplomats to promote international cooperation with Chongqing.
SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov also made a speech at the event and noted that cooperation has been expanding between the SCO Secretariat and Chongqing in recent years.
"Over a short time, the SCO and Chongqing have established a close partnership characterised by mutually beneficial cooperation," Mr Norov stressed.
In this context, the SCO Secretary-General noted the importance of the meetings with Chongqing Communist Party Committee Secretary Chen Min'er and Mayor Tang Liangzhi held last year, as well as the SCO Heads of Region Forum, the opening of the SCO pavilion at the Smart China Expo 2019 and the participation of the SCO Secretariat in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia's third conference on building a community of common destiny in Asia held in Chongqing.
According to Mr Norov, Chongqing is a key city on the Yangtze River, the most important link along the Belt and Road route and the bridge connecting the SCO and ASEAN countries.
The SCO Secretary-General focused on the potential of Chongqing, which is gradually turning into China's intellectual centre, a high-tech city where representatives of leading global companies come to take part in breakthrough IT projects.
In this sense, Chongqing provides every opportunity to implement joint innovative projects for the development of the digital economy and the IT industry with SCO countries.
According to Mr Norov, Chongqing has enormous potential to step up trade and economic cooperation with SCO countries, and the multifunctional trade and economic platform for SCO countries that the Chongqing Heqing Managing Company is establishing will benefit all SCO members.
In conclusion, Vladimir Norov congratulated the guests on the Spring Festival and wished them well in achieving their goals, stability and prosperity.
Chongqing is the largest of the four cities of central subordination in China, with a population of 30 million. Today it is one of the most developed industrial cities in western China.
About 70 percent of Chongqing's GDP comes from heavy industry. The city is the third largest car producer and the largest motorcycle producer in China. It ranks third in aluminium production in the country.
Li Bo was appointed Vice Mayor of Chongqing in September 2019. He has a PhD and studied at Stanford and Harvard universities.