On November 3, Ge Honglin, mayor and deputy secretary of the Municipal Party Committee of Chengdu, met with Jiang Peihua, the Chinese representative of German Railway Global Freight Company in Ningbo, and agreed to ensure that the scheduled railway freight transportation service from Chengdu to Germany will open before March next year.

The two sides met during the 7th China International Logistics Festival.

Compared with existing ocean shipping, the railway service will shorten station-to-station container delivery from Chengdu to Europe to 16 days. It will take about 20 days for door-to-door delivery service. The transportation costs will also be reduced.

To date, early stage preparations are ready for operation. According to the cooperation plan, there will be one scheduled railway freight transportation service each week in the early stage. There will be more scheduled services along with expanded export volumes from Chengdu city.

Ge said that in recent years, Chengdu has accelerated its pace of opening to the outside world and going global. It has integrated into the world economy at a fast rate.

Along with the settlement of a large number of world famous electronic information manufacturing enterprises in the city, such as Texas Instruments, Dell, Lenovo, Foxconn, Compal and Wistron, the city has raised higher demands on logistics service for exporting IT products to Europe.

Chengdu will provide efficient and convenient government administration services and apply advanced market operation concepts and modes to facilitate the timely operation of the scheduled Chengdu-Germany international railway transportation service, Ge said.

Jiang expressed gratitude to the Chengdu municipal government, on behalf of German Railway Global Freight Company, for support of the scheduled freight service.

Jiang said Chengdu has great development potential and the German company has great confidence in the prospects of the freight service.

German Railway Global Freight Company, a state-owned company in Germany, has a 150 year history. It is the most competitive in railway and highway transportation in Europe. It is the second largest in air transportation, third largest in ocean shipping, and fifth largest in contract logistics and supply chain management in the world.

Chengdu explores ways to boost convention and exhibition business 2011-11-3

In recent years, Chengdu has risen rapidly in the convention and exhibition business among China's second tier cities. It won the honorary title of "famous Chinese city hosting conventions and exhibitions."

After the Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008, the Chengdu convention and exhibition sector demonstrated a significant role in post-earthquake construction. In the past three years, the convention and exhibition sector has seized the opportunity of post-earthquake reconstruction, expansion of domestic demands, and pilot zone construction.

The sector has kept a foothold with its competitive industries and resources, while adhering to the development strategy of "internationalization, branding and specialization."

The Chinese convention and exhibition economy is developing vigorously. Competition and cooperation between cities hosting conventions and exhibitions have recently become commonplace. The following demonstrate the ways Chengdu is boosting the convention and exhibition business.

1. Establish three-step strategy and make step-by-step construction

Chengdu has followed a plan for changing itself into an international modern garden city. It has put forward a three-step strategy in developing the convention and exhibition business.

By 2015, Chengdu will develop into the largest conventions and exhibitions host in the central and western region and become a first-class member in the country.

By 2030, it will develop into a famous city in Asia for conventions and exhibitions.

By 2050, it will be a world famous city for conventions and exhibitions. Meanwhile, it will carry out the strategy to develop the convention and exhibition business in the orientation of "brands, specialization and internationalization". It will cultivate Chengdu into "an area gathering name brands of convention and exhibition sponsors, a destination of international conferences, and best loved place in west China for recreations and celebrations." For this purpose, it has exerted all efforts to boost the convention and exhibition economy. This is why Chengdu is developing itself into the capital of conventions and exhibitions.

2. Greater scale and strength and doubled interests brought by economics and industries

Chengdu is constructing a modern industrial system and promoting the development of high-end industries. The convention and exhibition sector will play a significant role in this process by deepening interaction between the primary, secondary and tertiary industries and harmonizing regional development. The city has set up seminars and quality professional exhibitions as platforms to develop the convention and exhibition business closely.

It has issued leading edge information, acquired sophisticated technologies, and gathered industrial leaders to promote investment through conventions and exhibitions.

In 2010, Chengdu held 382 major conventions and celebrations, and held exhibitions totaling 1.9 million square meters. The convention and exhibition sector contributed 2.38 billion yuan to added values. Direct income from the conventions and exhibitions amounted to 3.239 billion yuan. They pulled up 27.287 billion yuan in consumption.

3. Greater popularity

In the past three years, the Chengdu convention and exhibition sector has gained a higher reputation and become more influential in the country. Chengdu has been awarded with a series of honorary titles by national administrations and the news media.

Behind the successful stories are the efforts Chengdu has used to promote itself as a city for conventions and exhibitions. Chengdu is often seen spreading publicity materials at national industrial conferences, promoting the city image, industrial environments, supporting policies, and achievements. In addition to promoting itself in professional media and high-end conferences, Chengdu has taken the initiative to sign cooperation protocols with 11 famous cities hosting conventions and exhibitions, such as Qingdao and Nanjing, for more exchange and cooperation, and facilitating orderly and complementary development.

4. Best industrial environment

Chengdu has vigorously expanded companies focusing on conventions, exhibitions and tourism services. It has stimulated regional economic development with conventions, exhibitions and tourism. To date, many companies are devoted to developing conventions, exhibitions, tourism, and real estate businesses, to benefit from the industrial chain.

The upstream and downstream of the convention and exhibition business has become more mature. Companies from 20 industrial sectors, including convention and exhibition centers, hotels, travel services, restaurants, advertisements, and translations, have set up the "convention and exhibition service league" to furnish all-round quality services for conventions and exhibitions.

The Chengdu Convention and Exhibition Industrial Association, Chengdu Tourism Association, and Chengdu Catering Society have organized 100 companies to set up a convention, exhibition and tourism alliance to share resources.

In addition, Chengdu has constructed a total of 200,000 square meters in exhibition halls. The main exhibition halls are supported by sound facilities for recreational, entertainment, business, tourism and culture activities.

Chengdu has also actively implemented the optimization reform strategy to speed up construction of convention and exhibition facilities. For instance, the Sichuan provincial government is planning to construct the West China International Expo Quarter.