The city of Yangzhou, Jiangsu province held the opening ceremony for the 2015 China Yangzhou Flowery March International Economy & Trade Tourist Festival at the Songjiacheng Sports and Leisure Park on Apr 18.

Yangzhou holds the annual festival since 2002 to strengthen the cooperation between the city and overseas enterprises in such fields as technological innovation, food engineering and the Internet economy.

Xie Zhengyi, secretary of the Yangzhou Municipal Committee, said at the festival that Yangzhou maintained a strong economic development in 2014, which was achieved thanks to efforts by the Yangzhou people.

Guillermo Chalup Liendo, ambassador of Bolivia to China, shared his feelings and said, "It is the second time I am visiting Yangzhou. The city is still so charming."

However, it was the first time for Carmenza Jaramillo, ambassador of Columbia to China, to visit Yangzhou. She said, "The city has highly impressed me with its comfortable living environment. Yangzhou should be given well-deserved praise for its efforts for the Great Canal having received a World Heritage Status".

Peruvian ambassador to China, Juan Carlos Capunay, expressed his excitement and said that he can always discover something new in the city.

On the opening day, a commissioning ceremony for some major projects was also held. Two projects to build an Internet Industrial Park in Jiangsu province and establish the Jiangsu base of Entrepreneur's Training Camp of Peking University were signed by the government organizations and institutions such as Jiangsu Economic and Information Technology Commission, Yangzhou municipal government and Peking University Alumni Association.

Furthermore, 20 foreign investment projects worth $2.79 billion and 20 other private capital projects worth 26.22 billion yuan ($4.23 billion) were also signed on the same day.

According to the city's Deputy Mayor Kong Lingjun, a total of 123 projects have been commissioned by Apr 17.

Flowery March features the best time in a year (according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar) to appreciate Yangzhou's captivating scenery. The year 2015 will also mark Yangzhou's 2500th anniversary.

Yangzhou, a member city of the "Economic Circle of the Yangtze River Delta", does not have many high-rise buildings, but retains the buildings with Chinese characteristics. The city also boasts having well-known classical gardens in China. Yangzhou promotes its food culture as the Huai-Yang Cuisine, which originated in the Pre-Qin Period (221-206BC).