Zhang Haibo, Communist Party Secretary of Weihai; Yan Jianbo, Mayor of Weihai; Yang Li, Vice Mayor of Weihai and others

The Third Annual Meeting of the Weihai Mayor’s International Economic Advisory Council took place on May 30. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the event was held online. Weihai is located in Shandong province. Bekaert and Beaulieu, two member companies of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC), have major investments in Weihai.

A think tank composed of 19 members of the advisory committee offered advice and suggestions for the city’s high-quality development. The advisory committee members are elites in the fields of intelligent manufacturing, medical care and health, marine fishery, trade and investment, urban planning and energy, all of which are vital to Weihai’s development.

Attendees offered their suggestions on Weihai’s high-quality development under current circumstances. In his keynote speech, Antoine Simonnet, Chief Supply Chain Officer for HP and Chairman of the Advisory Council, analyzed the opportunities and challenges faced by Weihai’s economy and society in the light of the new changes and trends in a global economy which has been impacted by the pandemic. He suggested that quality management principles should be incorporated into the city’s innovation and development plan and pilot projects should be carried out in key areas. He added that Weihai should deepen opening up and build an innovation ecosystem. He also stressed that HP attaches great importance to the cooperative relationship with Weihai and will continue to deepen the cooperation to jointly promote the high-quality development of the city.

Zhang Haibo, Party Secretary of Weihai, invited experts to share constructive advice on boosting Weihai’s development, and bringing more resources and projects to the city.

Ms. Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce and of the EU-China Business Association, is also a Member of the Advisory Council to the Mayor of Weihai and Honorary Citizen of Weihai. In her speech to the online meeting, she recalled her first contact with Weihai 15 years ago. “A delegation from Weihai’s top government leaders visited the company Bekaert in Belgium, and during a nice luncheon, they introduced their city. The openness and the advantages of their city made me want to learn more. During that first meeting, I was invited to visit Weihai. I was impressed by its natural beauty, the friendliness of the people, and the efficiency of the government. After that, we exchanged delegations with business leaders and officials and made many friends.” Ms. Sonck provided eight recommendations for the future: to strengthen the digital presence of Weihai; to run more webinars, virtual seminars and online trade shows; to organize trainings in video conferencing; and to bring Weihai to the world with virtual tours. She also recommended to bring Weihai to the world with storytelling and interviews; to continue working on existing partnerships; to focus on branding and targeting; and finally to get aligned on strategic priorities.

Yan Jianbo, Acting Mayor of Weihai, said that Weihai will continue to promote high-quality development, deepen supply-side structural reform, activate new growth drivers and implement an innovation-driven strategy. Yan expressed the hope that the Advisory Council will continue to put forward valuable comments and suggestions on the city’s development and promote common development.

“As a coastal city with rich marine resources, Weihai should foster a competitive marine economy,” said Li Naisheng, Professor at the Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), who attended the meeting.

Accelerating the development of cloud computing, “new infrastructure”, and the digital economy were among the topics of this year’s meeting.
“The Weihai government can further increase its investment in digital distribution, which will promote industrial upgrading, foster drivers of economic growth and spur job creation,” said Zhou Xing, Managing Partner, North China Markets Leader of PwC China.

Liao Jun, CEO of Specialty Businesses & China, Member of Bekaert Group, delivered a speech on sustainable development during the meeting. He added that the pandemic has sounded an alarm for the world and highlighted the importance of sustainable development.

Weihai is a commercial port, and a major fishing center with a developed light industry and a large Korean business community. Weihai has a very business-friendly investment environment. The pillar industries are machinery, food, transportation equipment, textiles and garments, medicine and medical devices, electronics and new materials. The emerging industries of Weihai are medical & healthcare, information & outsourcing and “intelligent” manufacturing. There are three industrial zones: the Weihai Economic & Technological Development Zone, the Weihai Export Processing Zone and the Weihai Torch Hi-Tech Science Park. Besides regular flights to major cities in China, Weihai also has direct flights to Seoul and Busan in the Republic of Korea. The Qingdao-Rongcheng intercity railway offers high-speed rail services to Beijing, Shanghai and other cities.

Companies which are interested to learn more about Weihai’s favourable investment environment can receive an investment brochure by sending a request to: info@flanders-china.be