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Shaoxing is unveiled as the Economic and Trade Exchange and Cooperation Demonstration Zone on May 25. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

The 4th China-Japan-South Korea Business Conference, also known as the "Dialogue with Shaoxing" Economic and Trade Cooperation Symposium, opened in Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang province on May 25.

Over 400 government officials and business representatives from the three countries spoke about new projects and products, as well as opportunities emerging from the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's largest free-trade deal.

Shaoxing received a letter from the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat, a Seoul-based international body, for its efforts in promoting trilateral exchanges and was announced as the Economic and Trade Exchange and Cooperation Demonstration Zone during the conference.

The conference also revealed that business communities in the three countries will make concerted efforts to ratify the RCEP agreement. For example, chambers of commerce will deepen cooperation with each other, traditional industries will embrace digitalization reform, and special industrial parks will be built in Shaoxing to attract foreign talents.

The RCEP, which was inked by 15 states on Nov 15 last year, is world's largest trade bloc, covering nearly one-third of the global population and about 30 percent of the world GDP.

In 2020, Shaoxing's trade volume with signatory states of the RCEP was valued at 62.9 billion yuan ($9.86 billion), up 14.04 percent year-on-year and accounting for 24.39 percent of the city's total foreign trade volume.