The 12th Belt and Road China-Germany Economic Cooperation Dialogue convened recently in Taicang county of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, uniting political and business leaders from both nations to discuss avenues for economic partnership.

Among the attendees at the opening ceremony were Ke Zhizhong, director of the China Economic Liaison Center, Ji Jing, vice-mayor of Suzhou, and Xu Huadong, mayor of Taicang.

Ke highlighted the dialogue successes of the past decade, emphasizing their role as a crucial platform for fostering exchanges and practical cooperation between Chinese and German business communities.

Ke stressed the importance of China and Germany strengthening their solidarity and cooperation to uphold the multilateral free trade system. He advocated for enhanced communication and practical cooperation to support the healthy development of China-Germany and China-EU relations.

Ji noted the presence of over 700 German enterprises in Suzhou and more than 100 Suzhou enterprises investing in Germany. Since the first German company settled in Taicang in 1993, the city has become a key destination for German investment.

"In 2024, Suzhou's total trade with Germany reached $13.77 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.7 percent," said Ji. "The cooperation extends from traditional manufacturing to high-tech fields, such as new materials, new energy, artificial intelligence, and robotics applications."

Xu said that hosting this event after a decade reaffirms the city's long-standing commitment to German collaboration and provides a platform to showcase its economic and social achievements. He emphasized Taicang's dedication to deepening ties with Germany across the economy, trade, low-carbon development, education, and culture.

Over more than a decade, the Belt and Road China-Germany Economic Cooperation Dialogue has played an active role in enhancing dialogue and exchanges in economic and trade fields, building mutual understanding and trust, facilitating mutually beneficial cooperation, and supporting local high-quality development and high-level opening-up.