Weifang City of Shandong Province is the birthplace of the kite, and is the City of Kite known across the world. In recent years, the city has been actively engaged in international exchanges. We kicked off these exchanges with activities related to kites and then expanded international economic and trade cooperation. Bearing in mind the national strategies of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st -Century Maritime Silk Road and becoming a maritime power, we took advantage of our distinct resources to boost cooperation. As a result, we strengthened cultural exchanges with the rest of the world, and promoted party-to-party diplomacy. Moreover, we pressed ahead with the establishment of the East Asian Exchange for Animal Products, and facilitated local economic growth.
　　
I. Kite Strings Connect Us with Other Parts of the World, and Friendship is Forged Through Kites.
　　
The first Weifang International Kite Festival was held in April 1984. To date, 31 such festivals have been organized, which brings together foreign guests from over 30 countries and regions. In these activities, people compete with each other and share their skills with one another. They can get to know more about each other through sincere communication, and forge friendship. In 1988, when the Fifth International Kite Festival was held, Weifang was made the ‘World’s Kite Capital’. On April 1, 1989, the International Kite Federation was founded in Weifang, China. Now the Federation has 16 countries that sit in its governing body, and 67 member states. The office of its secretariat is located in Weifang. It is the first international sports organization that is headquartered in a medium-size city in China. Ever since 2012, the International Kite Festival opens on the Saturday of the third week of April every year.
　　
II. We Organized Quite a Few Foreign-related Activities in the Name of the ‘City of Kite’
　　
1. The Second China-Arab/Africa Small and Medium-sized Businesses Cooperation Forum
　　
This forum was held in Weifang in September 2011. It was co-sponsored by the International Department of CPC Central Committee (IDCPC) and Shandong Provincial Government, and organized jointly by the China Economic Cooperation Center, the Foreign Affairs Office of Shandong Provincial Government and the Weifang Municipal Government. The theme of the forum was ‘give scope to small and medium-sized businesses, and seek mutual benefit and win-win development’. It brought together participants from 16 Arab and African countries, including Algeria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran. Former Prime Minister of Jordan, Abdul Salam Majali was among them. Senior leaders of political parties, government officials in charge of economic affairs, presidents of business chambers, and ambassadors all came to Weifang to attend the event. Chinese participants included senior officials like Sun Jiazheng, Vice-Chairman of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC); Li Jinjun, Vice-Minister of IDCPC; Jiang Yikang, Secretary of CPC Shandong Provincial Committee; Wang Junming, member of the Standing Committee of CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and Vice-Governor of Shandong Province; and Zhao Yulan, Vice-Chairman of Shandong Provincial Committee of CPPCC. The forum provided a new platform for China-Arab and China-Africa practical cooperation, and also created opportunities for Weifang companies to do international business.
　　
2. Two Hundred Diplomats Visiting Weifang
　　
We invited 100 Chinese diplomats and 100 foreign diplomats to China to visit our city in order to better utilize the resources of Chinese embassies and consulates abroad and foreign embassies and consulates in China and to promote the city of Weifang. Through this campaign, we also sought to build a platform for companies that are going global so that they can get information, seize opportunities, and avoid potential risks. In 2012, about 200 diplomats of 16 delegations were invited to Weifang to visit the city and hold talks. They arrived in two batches. During the International Kite Festival of that year, we organized a fair for 115 diplomats and local companies to meet. More than 200 businesses participated in the event. In the middle of November, 40-odd Chinese diplomats - trainees of the ‘Fifth Training Program for Ambassadors and Counselors’ organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - paid a visit to Weifang to understand how the city is doing in terms of development. They talked about how their host countries and the city could complement each other in certain industries and made plenty of constructive suggestions for local companies doing business abroad and for attracting foreign companies to Weifang.
　　
3. The International Ecological Summit for Mayors of Sister Cities and the Launch Ceremony of the Union of International Kite Cities
　　
In April 2013, Weifang Municipal Government successfully hosted the International Ecological Summit for Mayors of Sister Cities, which was also the Launch Ceremony of the Union of International Kite Cities. We invited more than 10 majors, about 100 diplomats, business leaders and experts on ecology from over 20 countries to attend the summit, during which the Monument for the Union of International Kite Cities was unveiled, and the Declaration of the Union of International Kite Cities was jointly signed. We made breakthroughs in expanding multilateral cooperation between other cities in the world in the name of the kite, and in increasing the international influence of Weifang.
　　
4. Weifang Trip of Overseas Chinese Businessmen and PhD Holders.
　　
The Weifang Trip of Overseas Chinese Businessmen and PhD Holders is one of the signature events of the city. In recent years, a large number of high-tech and new-tech projects, and high-caliber professionals were brought to the city through this program. During the 2012 Weifang Trip, over 50 Chinese business leaders and PhD holders from the US, Canada, Germany and other countries visited Weifang High Tech Industry Development Zone and a place called Changyi. They also attended a seminar on how the city could develop its cutting-edge industries. They met with 80 local companies to discuss higher-end projects in such areas as ICT, biopharmaceuticals, energy conservation and environment protection, new materials and new sources of energy. The meeting produced five potential deals. In June 2013, over 40 famous overseas Chinese businessmen and PhD holders from the US, Canada, Japan and other countries were invited to attend the Sixth Weifang Trip. They went to Weifang High Tech Industry Development Zone and attended the 2013 Informal Meeting on Cutting Edge Industries for Overseas Chinese Businessmen and PhD Holders. Five Letters of Intent on business cooperation and the introduction of talent were reached.
　　
5. Weifang as One of the First China-EU Partner Cities on Urbanization
　　
In November 2013, the China-EU Partnership on Urbanization Forum was held in Beijing. Weifang and Freising of Germany were among the first 12 Chinese and European cities that signed cooperation agreements. Mayor Liu Shuguang of Weifang, attended the signing ceremony in the Great Hall of the People. Premier of the State Council, Li Keqiang, the then European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, and the then EU Council President, Herman Van Rompuy bore witness to the ceremony.
　　
We signed the Letter of Intent for China-EU Partner Cities on Urbanization with Freising to establish our strategic partnership and to further our city’s cooperation with Germany. We first cooperated with Freising to protect and develop the Fangtze Eurotown in Weifang and to establish the China-Germany Demonstration Zone for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage. Building on that, we promoted deeper cooperation with the German side in areas like urbanization strategy, spatial layout, and sustainable development of urban industries. We are introducing advanced experience, technologies, and high-caliber talent from Germany to facilitate the systematic development of our new-type urbanization. We are also pressing ahead with cooperation in agriculture, industry and the service sector, and are striving to make the Sino-German Weifang New City and the Fangtze Eurotown a reality.
　　
III. Push forward the Establishment of the East Asian Exchange for Animal Products, and Take Active Steps to Build an International Spot Trading Platform
   
The City of Weifang is an important center in China for animal husbandry, and for the processing and export of animal products. It is also one of the largest animal husbandary producers and one of the important markets in East Asia. We would take advantage of the strength of the China Food Valley in Weifang in storage, trade and distribution and build the East Asian Exchange for Animal Products-an international trading platform for animal products where raw materials trading, deep processing, international trade of frozen products, cold-chain logistics and settlement could all take place. This will bring our advantages in animal husbandry into full play. It will also promote standardization in the production and trade of animal products and can help allocate animal products-related resources in China and East Asia in a reasonable and effective way. Futhermore, the founding of the Exchange is in line with the country’s diplomatic strategies of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. It will play a major part in boosting our open economy.
    
We made careful preparations and departments concerned offered strong support and pushed hard for the project. Thanks to these efforts, the East Asian Cooperation Platform for Animal Products (an Exchange or a Trading Center) has been included in China’s proposed list of cooperation projects for the 2014 East Asia Summit. We will continue to follow up on the project through efforts to seek funding from the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund and the Special Fund for Regional Cooperation in Asia. We will also hold a seminar on the trading of animal products in East Asia.
　　
IV. Speed up Local Economic Development by Focusing on the National Strategies of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road
    
At the intersection of ‘the Belt and the Road’ in the coastal areas in East China, we have a unique advantage in terms of location. In-depth analysis of our participation in developing ‘the Belt and the Road’ is of great significance for it can help accelerate the development of new advantageous areas in the city’s open economy, make the city more internationalized, and push forward local reforms and development. 
    
We seek to boost the maritime economy. Two national priority zones-the Blue Economy Zone at Shandong peninsula and the Yellow River Delta Eco-economy Zone-overlap in Weifang. Thus we would like to give full scope to our advantages in resources and policy, and work together with the Bohai Bay Rim and countries and regions like Japan and the Republic of Korea to strengthen maritime cooperation with ASEAN countries with coast lines. We want to develop mechanisms for cooperation and exchange with countries that are important in the maritime economy, and push for deep inter-connectedness and joint development between Weifang city, Japan, ROK, and ASEAN countries in such areas as maritime science and technology, new maritime industries, and the protection of the ocean environment.
    
We want to step up our cooperation with ASEAN countries in high tech and new tech industries on the basis of existing comparative advantages and through further improvement of the mix of goods in international trade. This is in keeping with the trend of industrial upgrading in countries where ‘the Belt and the Road’ pass through. We will expand cooperation and increase exchanges in industries like modern ecological agriculture, deep processing of agricultural produce, biopharmaceuticals, maritime science and tropical bio-resources. We will take active steps to boost exports of key industries of the city - culture and art, transportation, and IT. Through cooperation in service outsourcing with countries that are covered by the ‘the Belt and the Road’, we aim to establish an international brand name of Weifang Services.
    
On the basis of our comparative advantages, we are encouraging the city’s equipment manufacturing industry to go global, to transfer excess capacity abroad and to seek global allocation of S&T resources. We are also working on fostering a number of multinational companies through industrial cooperation so that they can compete in the international market and take the city of Weifang to a higher level in international distribution of labor.
   
In promoting ecological civilization, we will play an active part in driving forward cooperation between Shandong Province and ASEAN countries in ecology and environment, climate change, and industries related to environmental protection. We can take advantage of the fact that a great number of people in the Chinese communities of Southeast Asian countries are originally from Weifang. On that basis, we will conduct cultural cooperation with countries that are included in the ‘the Belt and the Road’ through a series of new cultural exchange programs and by using our resources in tourism and education. These will strengthen public support for deeper cooperation. 
 
 (The author is Council Member of CAFIU, member of the Standing Committee of CPC Weifang Municipal Committee and Deputy Mayor of Weifang)