CIFIT organizers visit Czech Republic to capitalize on Xi's state visit

Following the success of Chinese President Xi Jinping's official state visit to the Czech Republic in March, organizers of the 2016 China International Fair for Investment & Trade (CIFIT) visited the country on April 25.

The aim of the trip was to drum up support among Czech businesses to attend, and to promote the event to government officials from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Lai Jianzhou, deputy Party secretary-general of Xiamen, Fujian province (where the fair is held annually in September) led the Chinese delegation. The Xiamen government is a major sponsor of the China International Fair for Investment & Trade.

After giving an introduction to the fair and its benefits, Lai invited Jiří Havlíček, deputy Minister of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade, to head up a business delegation to this year's event.

Detailed information about the fair was introduced to the government officials, including the fair's focus on transportation and infrastructure, industry cooperation, inbound and outbound investment, innovation and entrepreneurship, free trade policies, and the Internet Plus strategy.

The Chinese delegation encouraged Czech companies to exhibit product and services at a novelty exhibition that will be set up to showcase specialty products from across the world.

The fair's organizers will help the private sector in Fujian province to find investment projects in the Czech Republic, according to Wang Qiongwen, director of the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Convention and Exhibition Affairs, who was also on the delegation.

In an address to Czech officials, Wang gave an elaborate introduction of the fair's Guest Country of Honor campaign strategies of previous years and asked Havlíček to consider applying for the title for the 2017 or 2018 fair.

Havlíček expressed interest in cooperation projects suggested by Chinese delegates and voiced his intention to partner with the fair's organizers to expand the Czech Republic's economic and trade cooperation with China.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will make up plans to organize a business delegation to participate in the 2016 fair, after examining advice from the fair's organizers, getting instructions from leadership and consulting businesses, according to Havlíček.

The delegation also visited the Economic and Commercial Counselor's Office of the China Embassy in Czech and the Fujian chamber of commerce in Czech to share information on Xiamen's economic achievements and the fair's recent development.

Chinese Counselor Cheng Yongru acknowledged Xiamen's dynamic economic growth and the fair's growing influence in the global economy.

Cheng urged the fair's organizers to capitalize on the opportunities brought by President Xi Jinping's state visit to the country in late March to push for bilateral cooperation in areas of investment, trade, technology and tourism.

The Economic and Commercial Counselor's Office will help publicize the fair among Czech government officials and important business associations to encourage more businesses to join the fair.

Wu Ruizhen, president of Fujian chamber of commerce in the Czech Republic, said that he has organized overseas Chinese businesspeople from Fujian working in the Czech Republic to take part in the previous sessions of the fair and was satisfied with the efficiency and pragmatism of the fair’s organizers.

Wu introduced a number of key infrastructure projects in the country that may appeal to Chinese investors, including an industrial park and a canal linking the Czech Republic with Hungary, Germany and Austria. He expressed confidence of finding “powerful Chinese investors” for the projects through the fair's expansive business network.

Czech Republic is located in the geographic center of the European Continent and is an integral part of the cooperative framework for China and Central Eastern European countries.