Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Xiamen Area of China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) on Wednesday during his inspection tour of east China's Fujian Province.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, visited an exhibition on the achievements of the area's development. He also learned about local efforts in expanding reform and opening up and exploring paths for the integrated development across the Taiwan Strait.
Since it officially started operation in April 2015, the area, covering 43.78 square kilometers, has rolled out 606 innovative measures, 142 of which were pioneered nationwide. It boasts 31 pilot reform experiences that have been promoted across the country, and five most exemplary cases in free trade zone operation, including the "China International Trade Single Window."
Efforts have been made to promote the building of 22 major platforms in the area, covering such fields as aviation maintenance, finance lease, integrated circuits and cross-border e-commerce.
It has established a global one-stop aviation maintenance base and become China's fourth largest cluster district for aircraft finance lease, and largest cluster district for second-hand aircraft finance lease.
Besides, it has built the Maritime Silk Road Central Legal District where more than 150 high-quality legal and pan-legal arbitration service institutions have settled.
Xi visits free trade zone in Xiamen
Xi visits free trade zone in Xiamen
The 26th China Mining Conference and Exhibition opened in north China's Tianjin Municipality on Tuesday, with the goal of promoting international cooperation in the mining sector for win-win outcomes. The four-day event, themed "Promoting Mining Cooperation for a Better Future," is expected to attract nearly 400 exhibitors from over 30 countries and regions. Over 23 forums and 12 product and brand promotion sessions are set to be held during the event. After years' development, the event has become a platform for global mining industry to hold dialogs and seek investment and business opportunities.
"China is a major mining producer, importer, processor and consumer. This is determined by the country's economic structure, which features domestic trade foreign trade," said Che Changbo, Secretary of China Mining Association. The global mining industry is increasingly shifting its focus toward the new energy sector, with demand for key materials like bronze, lithium, nickel and cobalt expected to quadruple over the next 20 years.
"China has taken a leading role in solar energy development, which raises the bar for new energy storage batteries. We are now accelerating the development of new energy storage batteries and new energy vehicles, which will not only affect the vehicle industry, but more importantly, the future energy," said Che.
On Monday, reports on China's mineral resources and global mining development were released, which suggest that artificial intelligence, big data, satellite and remote sensing and the Internet of Things technologies could be applied into the mining industry to help conserve resources and achieve sustainability.
China's mining conference, exhibition opens in Tianjin
