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The 23rd China Zhejiang Investment and Trade Symposium Zhijiang Forum & The 6th China Zhejiang-Europe Digital Economy and High-tech Industry Matchmaking Conference is held in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 7. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

An investment and trade symposium coinciding with the second China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Fair was held on June 7, attracting more than 100 Fortune 500 companies and chambers of commerce.

Lu Shan, vice governor of the Zhejiang provincial government, presented statistics related to development of the province's opening-up.

From January to April of this year, Zhejiang's export increased by 38.6 percent, accounting for 13.5 percent of the country's total exports. Its exports to Europe were valued at 222.1 billion yuan ($34.7 billion), a year-on-year increase of 37.4 percent, according to Lu.

In addition, Ningbo's annual cargo throughput ranked first in the world for 12 consecutive years, and its container throughput ranked third in the world last year, Lu added.

Song Weiqun, global senior president of Johnson & Johnson, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the event. Song said that during the pandemic period last year, the Zhejiang provincial government rolled out a slew of effective measures to stabilize foreign investment, which strengthened the confidence of foreign companies such as Johnson & Johnson.

Sheng Qiuping, director-general of the Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province, released the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for the High-quality Development of Commerce in Zhejiang during the symposium.

A total of 88 projects receiving a combined $17.3 billion in investment, including 80 foreign-invested projects receiving a combined $15.1 billion in investment, and eight overseas investment projects receiving a combined $2.2 billion in investment are expected to be signed during the symposium.

At the end of 2020, foreign enterprises had set up a total of 70,520 enterprises in Zhejiang, with total investment reaching $904.23 billion. Six hundred fifty-three of the enterprises were funded by 187 Fortune 500 companies.

The investment and trade symposium taps Zhejiang's cooperation potential with Fortune 500 companies and overseas investors from all over the world. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]