A small delegation from the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Convention and Exhibition Affairs visited the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's headquarters in the Austrian capital of Vienna on May 26.
The five-member delegation, led by the deputy director of the bureau Yang Shaojing, met with senior officers from various UNIDO departments and Yao Shenhong, minister counselor at the representative office of China to the UNIDO.
Yang Shaojing expressed the bureau's gratitude towards UNIDO's support and participation in the China International Fair for Investment & Trade (CIFIT) in recent years. CIFIT is an annual event organized by the bureau in the city of Xiamen in Fujian province.
UNIDO officers acknowledged the fair's role in increasing investment over the past few years and expressed their hopes of deepening cooperative ties.
They said that the organization first attended the fair 10 years ago and became the co-host for its side event, the International Investment Forum, in 2014 and 2015. They added that Li Yong, director-general of the organization, twice led high-profile delegations to the fair and delivered keynote speeches at the forum.
The two parties hammered out details for collaboration at this year's fair session and consensus was reached on several points.
According to an agreement reached at the meeting, UNIDO will promote the fair among its global networking and mark its fiftieth anniversary with a string of activities at this year's fair. Achievements made through the organization's efforts in promoting industrial development in China will be exhibited.
The UNIDO Day event this year will include an Investment in Africa symposium, during which a report on industrial upgrading in Africa will be released and powerful Chinese enterprises will be invited to the event to learn about the investment environment in Africa.
The representative office of China to the UNIDO pledged to help build a working mechanism for long term cooperation between the fair and the organization.
China announced and implemented on May 15 a policy allowing visa-free entry of foreign tourist groups aboard cruise ships via all cruise ship ports along the country's coastline.
China and Georgia are set to waive visa requirements for travelers starting May 28.
