News from Singapore. Recently, Chen Entian, Chairman of the Southern Silk Road International Cooperation Committee and Chairman of the International Alliance of Silk Road Guild Halls, attended the preparatory meeting for the Southern Cooperation Bank in Singapore. During the meeting, he met with a number of Sichuan business representatives to exchange views on the construction of the Southern Silk Road, the opening-up of Sichuan and Chongqing, and international cooperation between central and local authorities, putting forward a series of development ideas.
Chen Entian pointed out that a group of Sichuan entrepreneurs engaged in foreign economic and trade business are dream chasers of the Southern Silk Road who started their journey from Sichuan. As the core starting city of the Southern Silk Road, Chengdu boasts unique geographical location, industrial and opening-up advantages, serving as a crucial hub connecting southwest China with South Asia, Southeast Asia and Global South countries.
He elaborated on the overall layout of the Southern Silk Road International Cooperation Demonstration Zone. The main route extends from Chengdu of Sichuan to Yunnan, and further connects Mandalay of Myanmar, forming a stable cross-border cooperation trunk passage in southwest China. On this basis, two major international extension routes have taken shape. The northwest route passes through ten countries and finally reaches Kazakhstan, the origin of the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative; the southeast route traverses ten countries and leads to Indonesia, the origin of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative. The linkage of the two routes builds a three-dimensional and diversified new pattern of international cooperation for the Southern Silk Road.
Chen Entian specially reviewed the early strategic layout. He stated that he put forward the strategic plan of building the Nantianmen Aircraft Carrier Town in Chengdu several years ago, and took the initiative to invite a number of central enterprises to settle in Chengdu and set up exclusive business headquarters for the Southern Silk Road. Relying on Chengdu’s core hub advantages, the layout aims to gather resources from central enterprises, industries and international economy and trade.
He emphasized that in the future, taking the Nantianmen Aircraft Carrier Town as the core carrier, it will give full play to its exemplary leading role, industrial agglomeration effect and platform radiation capacity, drive in-depth cooperation in economy and trade, infrastructure, finance, culture and other fields along the Southern Silk Road, empower the high-quality development of the Southern Silk Road International Cooperation Zone, and help southwest China deeply integrate into the global cooperation system of the Belt and Road Initiative.
