Dr. Ren Fukang, Deputy Director-General, Department of Commerce of Gansu Province

June 26, 2015

Striving to Build Gansu into Golden Section of the Silk Road

Economic Belt and Pushing Forward the Westward Opening-up

When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Central Asia and Southeast Asia in September and October of 2013, he raised the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.

Along with the implementation of the One Belt and One Road

Strategy, Gansu, an inland province in northwest China, is becoming the front for westward opening-up, a historical opportunity for us to expand the scale of opening-up and accelerating the pace of development by making full use of resources advantage, locational advantage and cultural advantage.

I. Basic Situation of Gansu's Westward Opening-up

II. Gansu's National Strategic Position

III. Gansu's Comparative Advantage for Westward

Openingup

IV. Gansu's Overall Plan of Building the Silk Road

Economic Belt

V. Gansu's Ongoing Westward Opening-up VI. Gansu's Cooperation Priorities in Westward Opening up and the Silk Road Economic Belt Building

I. Basic Situation of Gansu’s Westward Opening-up

Gansu established economic and trade relations with countries

in the central and west Asia in history. The spirits of the ancient Silk

Road, namely, peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness,

mutual learning and mutual benefit, are deeply rooted and have

strong vitality.

Gansu, as the vital passage of the ancient Silk Roa

d, plays an irreplaceable role in promoting political,

economic and cultural exchanges between China

and countries along the Silk Road.

The Silk Road runs for over1600 kilometers through Gansu Province, a quarter of the total length of the Silk Road.

In 2014, Gansu realized the trade volume of US$1.8 bn. with the central and west Asian countries and the central and east European countries, accounting for 23% of Gansu's total trade volume.

In 2014, Gansu achieved a trade volume of US$ 2.2 bn. with the our sister-cities'home countries, of which export was US$1.2 bn and import $ 1 bn.

(I). Gansu has laid economic and cultural foundation for westward opening-up.

1. Import and export

2. Foreign economic cooperation (outbound investment)

By the end of 2014, 13 enterprises from Gansu had set up 13 overseas enterprises and 3 representative offices in the central and west Asian countries with total investment of 20.24 million US dollars. In 2014, Gansu's enterprises signed project contracts with countries in central and west Asia and central and eastern Europe valued at 41.14 million US dollars and with turnover of 30.14 million US dollars.

Up to now, there are 8 enterprises from Gansu doing project contracting business in 12 countries in central and west Asia and central and east Europe with contract value of 1.3 billion US dollars and turnover of 850 million US dollars.

By the end of 2014, 15 enterprises from Gansu had established 16 overseas enterprises in our sister-city’s home countries with approved investment of 106.58 million US dollars and actual investment of 85 million US dollars.

　

By the end of 2014, enterprises from 11 countries of the central and west Asia and the central and east Europe had established 23 enterprises in Gansu Province with total investment of 58.768 million US dollars and foreign investment of 21.448 million US dollars.

By the end of 2014, enterprises from our sister-cities'home countries had established 382 foreign invested enterprises in Gansu with total investment of 1.74 billion US dollars and foreign capital of 730 million US dollars.

3. Foreign Direct investment(inbound)

Gansu Province has established sister-city relationship with 48 provinces and states of 33 countries along the Silk Road, including Osh State of Kyrgyzstan, Konstanai Region of Kazakhstan, Grodno State of Belarus, Penza of Russia, Qom Province of Iran and Gobi--Altai Region of Mongolia.

Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport has 10 international flight routes including Lanzhou to Dubai, Lanzhou to T'bilisi and Lanzhou to Singapore, the number of person entries and exits exceeded 100 thousand in 2014.

　 4. International exchanges

Lanzhou University has set up 3 Confucius Institutes in Al-Farabi Kazakh National University of Kazakhstan, Tashkent Oriental Languages Institute of Uzbekistan and Free University of Tbilisi of Georgia.

Gansu Province has cooperated with Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary and other counties along the Silk Road in the field of health by providing traditional Chinese medicine services and training healthcare and medical staff.

1. The import and export trade has increased rapidly, but its effect in accelerating economic growth is limited.

(II). Difficulties (faced by Gansu) in course of westward opening-up

The import and export trade volume increased to 10.28 billion US dollars in 2013 from 34.54 million US dollars in 1978, with an average annual growth rate of 17.6%.

　 In 2014, Gansu's import and export was 8.65 billion US dollars, decreased by 15.43%. Out of the total trade volume, export was 5.33 billion US dollars, increased by 14.24%, import 3.32 billion US dollars, decreased by 40.33%.

In comparison, the gap between Gansu and other provinces is widening.

In 2013, Gansu's import and export trade volume accounted for only 2.47 per thousand of China's import and export trade volume, inbound foreign direct investment was only 0.59 per thousand of China’s total FDI, the turnover of overseas contracting projects was 2.3 per thousand of China's total turnover of overseas contracting projects, Gansu's overseas investment only took up 1.72 per thousand of China’s total overseas investment.

　　 In 2014, Gansu's import and export trade volume accounted for only 2.01 per thousand of China's import and export trade volume, inbound foreign direct investment was only 0.83 per thousand of China's total FDI, the turnover of overseas contracting projects was 2.4 per thousand of China's total turnover of overseas contracting projects, Gansu's overseas investment only took up 2.2 per thousand of China's total overseas investment. So, lack of development is the biggest problem faced by Gansu.

Gansu's level of opening-up is low. Gansu's foreign trade dependency is 10.58% while the national average is 47.5%. According to the survey done by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2012, Gansu's opening-up index was 8.6 (full mark was 100), taking the last 6th place among 31 provinces and cities in China.

　 2. The structure of foreign trade has improved a lot, but it is still far behind the requirement of Gansu's economic structure adjustment.

　　 Commodity structure:

Among the export (4.68 billion US dollars) in 2013, mineral resources products took up 11%, mechanical and electronic high-tech products was 31%, agricultural products 7% and other products 51%.

Among the import (5.6 billion US dollars), mineral resources products accounted for 91%, mechanical and electronic high-tech products 2% and other products 7%.

Among the export (5.3 billion US dollars) in 2014, mineral resources products took up 33%, mechanical and electronic high-tech products 7% and other products (mainly textile and chemical products) 47%.

Among the import (3.3 billion US dollars), mineral resources products accounted for 80%, mechanical and electronic high-tech products 8% and other products 12%.

Ownership structure:

Foreign trade of non state-owned enterprises took up about 40% of the total foreign trade of Gansu, while the foreign trade of Jinchuan Company, Baiyin Company and Jiugang Group and other state-owned enterprises took up 49% of Gansu's total foreign trade.

Enterprise structure: Gansu is short of large import and export enterprises. Jinchuan Company, the largest import and export enterprise in Gansu, achieved foreign trade of 3.76 billion US dollars in 2013.

Trade structure:

Gansu's general trade in 2013 was 8.97 billion US dollars, accounting for 87% of the total foreign trade and increased by 17%. Processing trade was 1.05 billion US dollars, accounting fore 10% of Gansu's total foreign trade, much lower than the national average of 35%.

　　 3. Platforms for economic development are being enhanced, but their industrial agglomeration ability is weak.

　 　 Up to now, Gansu Province has 5 National Economic and Technological Development Zones, 2 National High-tech Development Zones, 28 provincial level development zones and over 200 county level development zones. Most of the zones face the common problems of imperfect infrastructure, weak industrial agglomeration ability and low efficiency of input and output.

(III). Gansu and the central and west Asian countries have mutual benefit market demands.

　 The central and west Asia is rich in minerals of oil, lead, zink, aluminum, potassium and silver. The import volume of three pillar enterprises in Gansu, namely, Jinchuan Company, Jiugang Group and Baiyin Company, takes up over 80% of Gansu's total foreign trade. In Gansu, 85% of copper ore are imported, 50% of raw materials for nickel products are imported, 80% of raw materials for cobalt products are imported and over 50% of iron ore are imported. Besides import from Australia, Brazil and Chili, the central and west Asian countries are convenient source to import such raw materials.

1. Import

The central and west Asian countries need to develop light industry as most of the daily necessities depend on import. Gansu can export light industry products and agricultural products to the central and west Asian countries, even to the central and east European countries to satisfy local market demands.

2. Export

The economy of the central and west Asian countries is at the rising phase, much investments are needed in infrastructure construction. Enterprises from Gansu may participate in road and railway construction in these countries. Meanwhile, Gansu can provide technical assistance in the field of well drilling, water saving and solar energy utilization.

3. Outbound direct investment

II. Gansu's National Strategic Position

In the Strategic Plan for Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, Gansu is regarded as the important component of the Silk Road Economic Belt and Lanzhou as the key node city in the economic corridor of the new Eurasia Continental Bridge. The central government has given Gansu the position of important portal for westward opening-up and strategic base for sub regional cooperation.

The State Council has issu

ed tailor-made policies to sup

port Gansu's social and econo

mic development.

The central government has also defined Gansu as the strategic passage of the Eurasia Bridge, the communication hub linking the Southeast and Northwest China, the important ecological security shelter of Northwest China and the whole China, the important base of new energy, the base of nonferrous new materials and processing base of special agricultural products, the important Chinese cultural resources treasure, and demonstration area for promoting common prosperity of all ethnic groups.

　

The New Eurasia Continental Bridege - a short cut from east Asia to west Europe

Lanzhou New Area - the Fifth National l

evel New Area

In line with the strategic positions defined by the central government, Gansu has formulated its overall plan for building the golden section of the Silk Road Economic Belt. The main ideas of the plan are: by bringing Gansu’s advantages of location, culture, resources and energy, and industry into full play, to build three strategic platforms, namely, Lanzhou New Area, Dunhuang International Tourist City and China Silk Road Expo, to push forward the implementation of six programs which are road inter-connectivity, economic cooperation and technical exchange, industrial matching and cooperation, new economic growth pole, cultural exchanges and strategic platforms building, to further enhance the supporting capacities of key cities so as to build Gansu Province into the golden passage of the Silk Road, the strategic platform of westward opening-up, the regional hub of trade and logistics, the base of industrial cooperation and cultural exchanges.

　

III. Gansu's Comparative Advantages for Westward Opening-up and the Silk Road Economic Belt Building

Based on comprehensive analysis of

Gansu's history, culture, economy and g

eography, we can conclude that Gansu c

ould bring her comparative advantages i

nto full play for westward opening-up an

d building the Silk Road Economic Belt.

　

Gansu Province is located at the meeting point of Eastern and Western China. The Silk Road and the Eurasia Continental Bridge run over 1600 kilometers through the province. So Gansu is the important hub of transportation and communication, and the key channel of energy transportation. Cargo trains to Europe pass through Gansu. With the development of transportation networks and logistics bases, Gansu has great potential and space to develop international trade and logistics.

　 Geographical advantages

Gansu has a profound historical culture with distinctive characteristics. Particularly, Gansu has a long history of cultural exchange and economic cooperation with the central and west Asian countries. As the intersecting and fusion area of west culture and Chinese culture, Gansu has formed unique cultures, such as Xiliang Culture and Dunhuang Culture, which are conserved in good conditions. Peoples in countries along the Silk Road have a strong sense of identity about Dunhuang Culture, which is the typical culture of the Silk Road and well-known around the world.

　 Cultural advantages:

Gansu is the important base of new energy, nonferrous metallurgical new materials and special agricultural products processing, so Gansu has comparative advantages in industries. Gansu also has advanced technologies in the fields of water-saving farming, modern agriculture, new energy, new materials, circular economy and desert control. These technologies, widely extended in the world, are also suitable to countries in the Central and West Asia.

　 Industrial and technical advantages

Gansu is not only rich in conventional energy resources like coal, oil and gas, but also has great potentials to develop new energy, such as water power, wind power and solar power. Gansu has a complete mineral resources category with abundant reserves.

　 Natural resources advantages:

IV. Gansu's Overall Plan of Building the Silk Road Economic Belt

The general requirements are to comprehensively carry out the national strategic arrangements, and by bringing Gansu's advantages of location, culture, resources and energy, and industry into full play, to build three strategic platforms, namely, Lanzhou New Area, Dunhuang International Tourism City and China Silk Road Expo, to push forward the implementation of six programs which are road inter-connectivity, economic cooperation and technical exchange, industrial matching and cooperation, new economic growth pole, cultural exchanges and strategic platforms building, to further enhance the supporting capacities of key cities so as to build Gansu Province into the backbone and important support of a prosperous, green and harmonious Silk Road, achieve the Two Centenary Goals outlined by the 18th Congress of CPC, and make active contribution to the great revival of the Chinese nation.

　 (I). General requirements

1. Road inter-connectivity:

we will bring Gansu's geographical advantages and the supporting role of node cities into full play in order to comprehensively improve transportation facilities and enhance the transportation abilities. We will speed up the constructions of Lanzhou transportation hub and import and export goods distribution center, Lanzhou railway container terminal and marshalling yards. We are also planning to build the marshalling yards for trains to countries along the New Eurasian Continental Bridge and open regular cargo trains to the Central Asia and Europe.

　

(II). Main measures

2. Trade and economic cooperation:

We will make best use of the long established relations with the Central and West Asian countries and countries along the Silk Road to further expand trade and economic cooperation with these countries and promote the development of open economy in Gansu Province.

　

　　 Expanding import and export trade:

We will export petroleum machinery, electric and electronic products and agricultural products to the Central and West Asian markets and the Central and East European markets. Meanwhile, we will import advanced technologies and mineral resources from countries in the Central and West Asia and the Central and East Europe.

Promoting economic cooperation:

We will support Gansu's large scale enterprises, such as Jinchuan Company, Baiyin Company and Jiugang Group, to participate in resources exploration and development jointly with local enterprises in Central and West Asian countries and set up overseas raw material base or processing base. We encourage all enterprises in Gansu to contract overseas construction projects of railways, bridges, buildings and hydro power stations.

　

Accelerating port construction:

Focusing on promoting the role of Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport and Wuwei Bonded Logistics Center, we will speed up the pace to open international flight routes and air freight routes from Lanzhou to Central and West Asia and Central and East Europe. Dunhuang Airport is opened for international flights with the approval of the State Council. We will take Dunhuang International Airport as an important traffic node and try to open international flights for tourists and business travel. We are making efforts to complete the construction of the Comprehensive Bonded Area of Lanzhou New Area and put it into operation by the end of this June. We support the operation of Tianma cargo train from Wuwei to Almaty and extend the cargo train to Europe.

　

Facilitating logistics center construction:

In key cities of Gansu Province, modern logistics bases will be built to promote trade with Central and West Asian countries.

-- By focusing on the construction of Lanzhou New Area freight distribution center and Zhongchuan Airport logistics base, we will speed up the building of Lanzhou national logistics hub.

-- By making best use of the comprehensive advantages of Hexi Corridor, we will build logistics bases of nonferrous metallurgical materials, coal and new energy equipment in cities of Jiuquan, Jiayuguan, Zhangye, Jinchang and Wuwei.

-- By making best use of geographical advantages of east and south Gansu, we will build machinery and equipment logistics base in Tianshui, petroleum and coal logistics base in Pingliang and Qingyang, and special agricultural products logistics base in Longnan.

　

We will actively promote industrial cooperation with countries along the Silk Road in the sector of agricultural products processing, equipment manufacturing, new energy development, light industry and building materials production by bringing Gansu’s industrial advantages and potentials into full play. 　

3. Industrial cooperation

Agricultural cooperation:

Gansu is an agricultural province and has a number of foreign exports oriented agricultural products processing enterprises. We will focus on building production and processing bases of potato, Chinese traditional medicines, brewing materials, vegetables, seed production and animal husbandry. We encourage the cooperation in the fields of agriculture and animal husbandry with Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia and other countries along the Silk Road to establish bases of agricultural and animal husbandry products production, processing and marketing. We also support Gansu's enterprises to invest in modern agriculture in Central and West Asia and Central and East Europe to establish modern agriculture demonstration zones.

　

Equipment building cooperation:

Focusing on new energy equipment, general equipment for petroleum industry, digital machinery, electric and electronic equipment, we will build Gansu the important equipment building base on the Silk Road.

New energy cooperation:

We will carry out technical cooperation and training in wind power and solar power development technologies so as to help countries along the Silk Road to develop local new energy resources.

　

Focusing on the industrial clustering abilities and potentials of cities in Gansu, we will build 3 regional core economic areas so as to promote Gansu’s opening-up level and regional development.

Lanzhou-Baiyin Economic Area. We will build this area into an industrial clustering area with petroleum industry and nonferrous metallurgical industry as its core, a cultural and tourism area with Yellow River culture as its core, and a transportation hub and logistics center.

　

4. Regional opening-up and development

Hexi Corridor Economic Area. We will make effort to build this area into an industrial clustering area with new energy and new materials industry as its core, an ecologic tourism area with Dunhuang Culture as its core.

Southeast Gansu Economic Area: We will develop petroleum and coal industry clusters by using local oil and coal resources and establish a demonstration base of comprehensive use of conventional energy.

　

We will make best use of the profound cultural resources and rich tourism resources in Gansu to build the strategic platform of Chinese Civilization Inheritance and Innovation Zone, to strengthen the cultivation of culture soft power and promote cultural exchange and cooperation with countries along the Silk Road.　

5. Cultural exchange and cooperation

Cultural industry cooperation:By using Dunhuang International Tourism City as a p

latform, we will actively carry out cooperation and exchange with Central and West Asian countries in the filed of the historical and cultural relics protection.

Tourism cooperation: we will implement westward going program to introd

uce the artistic master pieces of the Rain Flower of the Silk Road and the Grand Dream of Dunhuang to Central and West Asian Countries. We will continue to expand overseas distribution of Reader, a magazine edited and published in Gansu. We will sponsor the Week of Gansu Culture and Tourism in Central and West Asian countries to introduce the splendid culture and tourism resources in Gansu.

　

　 Education cooperation: Basing on high education institutions, such as Lanzhou University, Northwest Nationality University and Northwest Normal University, we will set up culture and education cooperation platforms, including the Central and West Asian Countries Research Center and Arabic Teaching Center. Focusing on the research of Dunhuang Culture, the Silk Road and the Central and West Asia, we will establish a comprehensive research base to enhance international cooperation and academic exchange with countries along the Silk Road.

We will concentrate our efforts to build three strategic platforms to promote Gansu’s cooperation with countries along the Silk Road.

-- Lanzhou New Area, it is a strategic platform of westward opening-up and undertaking industrial transfer, an important increasing pole of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

　

6. Building strategic platforms

-- Dunhuang International Tourist City, it is a strategic platform of cultural exchange and cooperation. On this platform, Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Culture Expo, Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Culture Forum and Dunhuang Silk Road International Tourism Festival will be held, and Dunhuang International Arts Transaction Center will be established.

--Lanzhou International Trade and Investment Fair, a strategic platform of international trade and economic cooperation. We are making efforts to upgrade Lanzhou International Trade and Investment Fair to China Silk Road Expo so as to further promote trade and economic cooperation with countries along the Silk Road.

V. Gansu's Ongoing Westward Opening-up

1. Economic cooperation is further strengthened. In order to enhance economic cooperation with countries along the Silk Road, the Department of Commerce of Gansu Province has established commercial office in Minsk of Belarus, Teheran of Iran and Huoerguos Port in Xinjiang to provide enterprises with trade and investment information services. The Department of Commerce of Gansu Province has also organized trade delegation teams to countries along the Silk Road to carry field investigation, trade and investment projects negotiation. During Lanzhou International Trade and Investment Fair of this year, we will, for the first time, set up a special exhibition zone for countries along the Silk Road so as to promote Gansu’s cooperation with countries along the Silk Road.

　

2. The Comprehensive Bonded Zone of Lanzhou New Area is under construction. The Comprehensive Bonded Zone of Lanzhou New Area was approved by the State Council on 15 July, 2014. With a planning area of 2.86 square kilometers, the comprehensive bonded zone is now under full construction and will be completed and put into operation by the end of June 2015. After completion, the comprehensive bonded zone will be an important platform for expanding Gansu's trade with countries along the Silk Road.

　

Land port construction is in full swing. Since Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport was approved to be one international airport in 2013, we have opened flight routes to Central and West Asian countries jointly with airline companies. Dunhuang Airport is now opened to international flights with the approval of the state, we will try our best to do a better work in the opening of the airport for international flights. We will work closely with the National Ports Office to list the opening of Jiayuguan Airport for international flights in the 13th Five-year National Ports Development Plan. Meanwhile, Gansu Provincial Government has submitted its proposal to the State Council to establish China (Lanzhou) Free Trade Zone in order to enhance cooperation with countries along the Silk Road.

3. Gansu has organized more overseas trade fairs. In 2014, Gansu has participated Chinese Commodity Fair in Kazakhstan, organized Gansu Commodity Exhibition and Investment Promotion Fair in Belarus and Iran. In 2014, Gansu has signed 83 trade and investment contracts with countries along the Silk Road, the contract amount reached 3.422 billion US dollars. Focusing on Belarus, Iran and Kazakhstan, we will promote Gansu's trade and economic cooperation with countries along the Silk Road.

In 2015, we will organize Gansu's enterprises to participate in more than 15 overseas international trade and exhibition fairs, including Hannover Industry Expo in Germany, Halal Food exhibition in Malaysia, Chinese Commodity Exhibition in Kazakhstan and China-Asean Commodity Fair in Thailand.

　

4. E-commerce has developed quickly. The Department of Commerce of Gansu Province has set up Gansu pavilion on Taobao.com which has been inaugurated online in April 2015. We have upgraded Gansu Foreign Trade Service Website which serves as a provincial level cross-border e-commerce platform and provides trade information in Chinese, English, Russian and Arabic. We encourage and support enterprises in Gansu to engage in cross-border e-commerce and set up multi-language websites and data center to promote trade and economic cooperation with central and west Asia and Europe.

　

VI. Gansu's Cooperation Priorities in Westward Opening-up and the Silk Road Economic Belt Building

Gansu covers an area of 425,000 square kilometers, per capita l

and area takes the fifth place in China.

Gansu is rich in natural resourc

es such as coal, oil, hydro energy a

nd wind and solar energy.

Gansu is one of the industria

l bases of China. With the total p

opulation of 26.28 million, Gansu

has a large number of professio

nal experts and experienced wor

kers.

Based on above factors, we can conclude that investment in

Gansu is cost-effective.

(I). Develop modern logistics1. We will accelerate the construction of the Comprehensive Bon

ded Zone of Lanzhou New Area and the Lanzhou National Logistics Base so as to form a regional logistics center in Lanzhou. We will push forward the construction of Lanzhou New Area Freight Distribution Center, Zhongchuan Airport Logistics Park and Gansu Regional Reserve Center of Emergency Materials and Equipment. We will speed up the construction of Lanzhou Dongchuan International Railway Logistics Center so as to build a distribution center of import and export goods and form a land port along the Silk Road Economic Belt. We support the construction of Wuwei Railway Logistics Center and regular operation of Tianma International Freight Trains. We are also planning to run new international freight trains from Lanzhou to cities in Europe.

　 Cooperation priorities

2. We will promote the construction of Dunhuang and Jiayuguan Port Logistics Base, serving the trade with the central and west Asian countries. Relying on the existing logistics facilities, we will build modern logistics bases of nonferrous metals, coal and new energy equipment in Jiuquan, Jiayuguan and Jinchang, build international agricultural products logistics bases of vegetables, seeds and brewing materials. We encourage the development of third party logistics, enhance the role of logistics information platforms and promote international cooperation in the sector of logistics.

　

(II). Develop foreign trade1. Expanding the export. We have taken several concret

e measures to increase the export volume. The first measure is to foster foreign trade bases, including bases of equipment building, mechanical and high-tech products, special agricultural products and nonferrous new materials. The second measure is to establish overseas sales networks. We support foreign trade enterprises to set up overseas sales network, highlighting the countries along the Belt and the Road. The third measure is to expand export of services. While expanding the export of conventional services in transportation, telecommunication, tourism and construction sectors, we support foreign trade enterprises to expand the export of Chinese medicines, cultural and artistic products, education services and news and publishing services.

　

2. Expanding the import. We support Gansu's enterprises to expand the import of resources, such as copper ore, iron ore and nickel, to provide raw materials to the pillar industry of Gansu Province. We also encourage foreign trade enterprises to import commodities produced in countries along the Belt and the Road so as to diversify the consuming markets in Gansu Province.

　

3. Upgrading service trade. We support and guide Gansu's enterprises to integrate their overseas investment with trade, provide their overseas clients with research and development services, and technology transfer services, aiming at expanding service export through overseas investment. We also encourage Gansu's enterprises to establish research centers, technology transfer centers and pilot technical extension bases in the central and west Asian countries so as to promote technical personnel exchanges and enhance technical innovation abilities of both sides.

　

(III). Industry cooperation1. Using foreign investment and upgrading Gans

u's industryOn the one hand, we will take measures to attrac

t more investment from countries along the Belt and the Road to upgrade Gansu's industry, particularly, we encourage foreign investment in the field of catering services, culture and tourism, trade and logistics. On the other hand, we encourage Gansu's equipment-building enterprises to strengthen their cooperation with countries along the Belt and the Road in manufacturing of new energy equipment, petroleum equipment, digital equipment and electric and electronic products.

2. Speeding up going out for Gansu's enterprises

Firstly, we support backbone enterprises to go overseas for resource cooperation and use Gansu's production capacity to process the resources locally. In combination of Gansu's industrial restructuring, we encourage enterprises to transfer their over production capacity to countries along the Silk Road for mutual benefits.

Secondly, we will strengthen cooperation in the equipment building sector and promote the going-out of Gansu's new energy equipment, petroleum equipment and wind power equipment.

　

　 Thirdly, we will carry out cooperation in the agriculture and animal husbandry sector. We support Gansu's enterprises to set up bases of production, processing, storage and marketing of agricultural and animal husbandry products in Central Asia, Mongolia and Belarus to achieve mutual benefits. Fourthly, we will actively contract overseas projects. Through contracting overseas projects, we will export more equipment, technology and labor to overseas markets. We support enterprises to use Gansu's technical advantages in construction of railways, bridges, house buildings, water power stations and exploring mines to contract infrastructure projects in the central and west Asia and the central and east Europe.　 　 　

　 　 Fifthly, we will encourage trade and service enterprises to set up overseas facilities to promote services trade and enhance the competitiveness of Gansu's service industry.

Conclusion　　　 A series of changes are taking place in world economic pattern, China's economic growth modes and regional cooperation trends, bringing us about opportunities and challenges in the process of westward opening-up and building Gansu into the golden section of the Silk Road Economic Belt. We must seize the opportunity to embrace the initiative of the Belt and Road. By taking full advantage of Gansu's geographical, resources and industry advantages and making best use of sister-city relations, we will deepen our cooperation with countries around the world in the fields of trade and economy, science and technology, education and culture so as to promote opening-up, and social and economic development in Gansu Province.

I wish you all a nice weekend, a happy life in Gansu and success of the fellowship program.

Ren Fukang 任福康

• Address: 532 Dingxi Road, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China 中国甘肃省兰州市定西路 532 号 Department of Commerce of Gansu Province,China 甘肃省商务厅• Post Code: 730000• Tel: 0931 8619152 (O), 13909318354(Mobile)• Fax: 0931 8618083 • E-mail: rfkgs@hotmail.com,rfkcn@yahoo.com

Thank you !

谢谢大家！