Japan session of the "Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500" serial event was held on Nov 10 in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, and Tokyo, Japan, via online and offline channels.

Jointly hosted by the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and Shandong Provincial People's Government, the event has received strong support from the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.

The Japan session of the "Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500" serial event is held on Nov 10. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Several Japanese commercial organizations and industrial magnates, including the Association for the Promotion of International Trade, Japan, Japan-China Economic Association, the Japan External Trade Organization, the Japan-China Investment Promotion Organization, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Bank, as well as Fortune China, also assisted with the event.

The event was attended by representatives of Fortune Global 500 companies, government officials from both countries, chambers of commerce, industry associations and research organizations from Japan.

"In the past two years, Shandong has introduced 45 policies and measures to strengthen reform and opening-up and build an open economic system, which has also provided unprecedented convenience for Fortune 500 companies to invest in Shandong," said Liu Jiayi, Party secretary of Shandong, in his online dialogue with Kuniharu Nakamura, CEO of Sumitomo Corporation.

Liu said that Sumitomo is a well-known multinational company in Japan. The enterprise boasts very close ties with Shandong, having invested in several projects in the province covering sewage treatment, construction machinery, biotechnology and environmental protection, among other fields.

Liu Jiayi (left), Party secretary of Shandong, has a dialogue with Fumiya Kokubu, CEO of Marubeni, via video link. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"We welcome more valuable suggestions on the development of Shandong from Sumitomo, to further deepen cooperation and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results."

Liu also held an online discussion with Fumiya Kokubu, CEO of Marubeni, and expressed hope to deepen ties in drug development, medical device manufacturing, international logistics and other fields.

Kong Xuanyou, China's ambassador to Japan, delivers a speech at the event via video link. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

During his online speech, Kong Xuanyou, China's ambassador to Japan, said Shandong took the initiative to explore new paths for cooperation and held many online activities with government departments and economic organizations in Japan amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"These activities have boosted people-to-people contact and cultural exchanges and injected fresh energy into economic and trade cooperation between Shandong and Japan," said Kong.

Shandong Governor Li Ganjie said that the service trade between the two sides is growing rapidly and has excellent potential.

"Shandong is willing to further tap the potential of cooperation and expand bilateral trade relations in the fields of healthcare, scientific and technological services, financial services and industrial design," said Li.

Shandong Governor Li Ganjie (left) has an in-depth talk via video link with Nobuyuki Hirano, chairman of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Li also had an in-depth talk via video link with Nobuyuki Hirano, chairman of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and economic consultant to Shandong government, to facilitate investment and cooperation.

Yohei Kono, president of the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade, spoke highly of the event.

"This event is of great importance to enhance dialogue and build up our confidence to further ties with Shandong, as the COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to the global economy," said Kono.

"Many Japanese enterprises and people share the same wish as their counterparts in Shandong to welcome the continuous improvement of Japan-China relations, and stand ready to make contributions to bilateral friendship and advance win-win cooperation," he said.

Agreements for 14 projects were signed at the event, which will receive $910 million in total investment, with contractual foreign investment valued at $230 million.

The projects cover a wide range of industries such as high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials, high-end chemical industry, transportation and education.

Shandong and Japan have close connections because of their geographical proximity and historical closeness. Official data show that 51 Fortune Global 500 companies from Japan have invested in 157 projects in Shandong, with a total investment valued at $5.72 billion.