On the afternoon of April 20, the Zhejiang-Angola Trade and Investment Conference was held in Jinhua City, east China’s Zhejiang Province. The event was co-hosted by the Jinhua Municipal People’s Government, Zhejiang Council for the Promotion of International Trade (ZJCPIT), and Zhejiang Federation of Industry and Commerce (ZJFIC). More than 200 people attended the conference, including Joana de Jesus Feijó, minister counselor of the Angolan Embassy in China, Ruan Ganghui, vice mayor of Jinhua City, Lin Wei, vice president of ZJCPIT, Lin Jianliang, vice chairman of ZJFIC, and representatives of local enterprises.
In his speech at the conference, Ruan Ganghui said that there is a profound friendship between Jinhua and Angola, and that after five years of hard work and innovation, Jinhua has significantly expanded its cooperation with Africa. Many companies have been thriving in agriculture, fishery, and other fields in Angola. He expressed the hope that the two sides will continue to consolidate the basis of economic and trade cooperation, explore new areas of cooperation, strengthen people-to-people exchanges, and open a new chapter of Jinhua-Angola cooperation through communication and exchanges.
Joana said in her speech that Angola is actively reshaping itself and implementing a series of important reform measures to create a better business environment. For example, it has cracked down on corruption, formulated multiple incentive plans, and established special economic zones and free trade zones, in order to attract more investors. She elaborated on Angola’s national economic development plan, priority areas of development in the post-pandemic era, and key investment, cooperation and infrastructure projects in Angola. She expressed her welcome for Zhejiang businesses to invest and start operations in Angola.
Lin Wei said in his speech that Zhejiang is a major trading province of China. Last year, its foreign trade ranked the third in China, with US$703 billion of imports and exports, including US$39.7 billion of exports to Africa. A large number of Zhejiang-based companies, such as Alibaba Group and Zhejiang Construction Investment Group, have successfully started their businesses in Africa, creating more than 10,000 jobs for the local people. ZJCPIT will continue to play the role as a bridge between Chinese and foreign business communities and contribute to the development of the open economy in Zhejiang Province.
Lin Jianliang emphasized in his speech that Zhejiang is developed in private economy, while Angola is rich in natural and human resources. There is great potential for cooperation between the two sides by leveraging their complementary strengths. ZJFIC will actively provide guidance and service for Zhejiang private companies to invest and do business in Angola. At the same time, it will welcome more Angolan companies to visit Zhejiang and seize the new historic opportunities for Zhejiang’s development.
On the sidelines of the conference, 100 local companies held in-person trade talks with more than 30 Angolan buyers of such products as cables, transformers, mechanical and electrical hardware, tools, tires, and new energy products. Zhejiang Mailian Group, Transsion Holdings, and Yongkang Hardware City signed separate cooperation agreements with the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Angola, making their foray into the African market.
The atmosphere was warm at the site of the conference. The entrepreneurs in attendance were all very happy with the content of the conference as well as the results of in-person communication.
China Report ASEAN 