Beijing investment, cooperation conference held in London

The "Beijing Welcomes You" Investment and Cooperation Conference was held in London on Wednesday, to showcase the Chinese capital's business opportunities and invite global companies and talents to develop their futures in the city.

The event was aimed at further implementing the consensus reached by the leaders of China and the United Kingdom during their phone conversation in August, which emphasized the importance of continuous local exchanges between the two countries to promote mutual benefits and win-win results, said Zeng Jin, secretary-general of the Beijing municipality.

More than 70 representatives from China and the UK attended the conference, which was organized by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Local Financial Regulation and Supervision, the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK, and the People's Bank of China.

Yin Yong, the mayor of Beijing, delivered a speech in which he shared Beijing's efforts to advance Chinese modernization, and provided a comprehensive overview of the city.

Yin highlighted Beijing's unique advantages and urban strategic positioning. He said the city is exploring cooperation opportunities in areas including green finance, technological innovation, the digital economy, and biomedicine.

Beijing boasts a strong industrial foundation in the financial sector, and over the years, its cooperation with the City of London has yielded impressive results, he added.

"More than 300 innovative startups register in Beijing every day," said Yin. "Beijing is also China's center of financial management and leads the country in the size of assets under management."

The financial industry contributed about 20 percent to Beijing's local GDP, Yin added.

Wang Qi, charge d'affaires at China's embassy in the UK, said: "I hope that the British business community will seize development opportunities brought by Beijing, write a new chapter in China-UK economic and trade cooperation."

In recent years, Beijing has been actively developing itself into a green and smart city, advancing the green transformation of both daily life and industry.

"We are planning to build Beijing into a city of gardens, where our citizens will be able to enjoy greens and flowers anywhere," Yin said.

Beijing is among the best global metropolises in terms of vegetation, with 45 percent of its mass covered by forest, and more than 1,000 parks.

"As we redouble efforts to fight against air pollution, the air quality index has dropped by 69 percent from its peak 10 years ago," said Yin.

The air quality index is a measure used to inform the public about current and forecasted air pollution levels. As pollution increases, so does the AQI, along with the related health risks.

The United Nations Environment Programme has praised Beijing's success in air pollution control, dubbing it the "Beijing miracle".

Yin said: "We will further expand high-level opening-up, guarantee national treatment for foreign businesses, and spare no effort to provide a stable, equitable, transparent, and predictable world-class business environment."

Wang said that, as Beijing stands at the forefront of China's high-quality development and high-standard opening-up, investing in the city means new opportunities for the British business community.

Zhu Xue'er contributed to the story.