On the morning of May 5, 2023, Beijing time, the opening ceremony for the Seminar on local development experience for municipal officials from the Republic of Congo, hosted by Ministry of Commerce and organized by MOFCOM Training Base for International Business Officials (Shanghai) , was successfully held. Liu Beimin, researcher of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Department of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, He Ying, Vice President of SBS and Dai Ying, Vice Dean of International Education College of SBS attended the opening ceremony. This seminar is the first foreign aid training program organized by our university after three years of the epidemic.
A favorable local government environment for municipal development is crucial in attracting external investment and talents, which can help enhance a city's competitiveness and attractiveness, and accelerate its economic growth. The longstanding friendship between China and Congo (Brazzaville) has been characterized by close cooperation in international affairs to defend international fairness and justice, and safeguard the common interests of China, Africa, and other developing countries. This program serves as a vivid practice of mutual exchange and learning, as well as complementary strengths and common improvement between the two countries.
Liu Beimin stated that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Congo (Brazzaville), fruitful cooperation has been achieved in the fields of economy and trade. As a strategic hub for both the domestic “dual circulation” and international circulation under the national strategy, Shanghai is positioned to serve the national strategy and the overall development of the city, and has been striving to promote all-round system transformation in industries, spaces, and governance. She believed that the abundant teaching curriculum, expert introductions, and various field visits in Shanghai will enable the Congolese (Brazzaville) participants to gain a lot.
He Ying expressed that China highly values the friendship and cooperation with the Republic of Congo and is willing to work closely with them, and supports each other to enhance exchange and cooperation in multiple fields. She also hoped that the participants could take this seminar as a platform to share their experiences in local development as municipal officials, explore the bottlenecks and difficulties encountered in their respective fields, and jointly tackle new environments and challenges.
The participant representative and Administrative Advisor to the Minister of Interior, Decentralization and Local Development of the Republic of Congo, Michel Gahou, mentioned in his speech that the people of the Republic of Congo firmly believe in the enduring and unimpeded friendship between China and Congo (Brazzaville) from now to the future. The People's Republic of China is a country that has stood the test of development. This training program in Shanghai will be a great "give-and-take" gathering for the participants from Congo.
The Seminar will last for 10 days, and a total of 19 officials from the Ministry of Interior, Decentralization and Local Development and other departments of the Republic of Congo will participate. The Seminar will also arrange for participants to visit Suzhou and Nanjing in Jiangsu Province.
Written by: Liang Bo
Photos by: Ni Haoran
Reviewed by: Chen Wei
