1. Consulate General of India, Shanghai and Yangzhou Municipal People’s Government jointly organised an India China (Yangzhou) Innovation and Investment Forum and India Culture Week celebrations in Yangzhou from September 22, 2016. CGI Shanghai’s template of cooperation with Yangzhou is a unique initiative bringing together economic, commercial and cultural aspects and intends to transport a truly Indian experience into Yangzhou for an entire week beginning September 22, 2016.

2. It may be noted that the province of Jiangsu has been a key business partner for India in the Eastern China region, and Yangzhou (located in Jiangsu) being an innovation and smart technologies hub, has assumed an important dimension in the investments going into India, as part of the Make in India initiative. 
There is also considerable interest amongst the people of Yangzhou in knowing about Indian culture, films and art forms and given this context, Yangzhou was selected as the second city in Jiangsu for launching the India Week celebrations in Eastern China.

3. Consul General of India in Shanghai led a delegation of fifteen Indian companies to attend the India China (Yangzhou) Innovation and Investment Forum, which was held on September 23 at Yangzhou Shangri La Hotel. Party Secretary of Yangzhou, H.E Xie Zhengyi received the Indian delegation and called for greater collaboration in IT and innovation related areas and desire on part of Yangzhou to learn from India’s IT success story. Consul General called upon Party Secretary to lead a delegation of Yangzhou companies to invest in India, in upcoming projects in the industrial parks and infrastructure related areas.

4. During the Investors Round Table, CEO’s of Indian companies introduced the latest investment opportunities in India in sectors like infrastructure, Solar Panels, Roads, Smart Cities, Infrastructure Development, Urban Transportation and Power Sector, which are now available to Chinese companies under the Make in India programme. Additional presentations covered possible collaboration in banking, IT, e-commerce and medical tourism into India. A series of B2B meetings were also organised for participating Indian companies with their Yangzhou counterparts.

5. An MOU was also signed between NIIT and Yangzhou Science & Technology Bureau to further institutionalize cooperation in the IT and software training sector with Yangzhou. Three Yangzhou companies, including one of China’s largest steel pipes manufacturers (Chengde Group) detailed a project plan to set up a steel processing unit in Gujarat later next year.

6. In addition, as part of Yangzhou’s International Cuisine Festival, a week-long Week celebrations were inaugurated on September 23, with an Incredible India Pavilion, which in addition to showcasing Indian tourism sights also put on display some of the best Indian culinary experience for Yangzhou Food lovers. Earlier a week long Indian Food Festival was also launched at the Shangri La Yangzhou Hotel, which was jointly inaugurated by Consul General and Yangzhou city leadership in the evening of September 22. Two Indian chefs had been deployed at Shangri La Yangzhou to prepare special Indian dishes for Yangzhou food lovers.

7. Given the tremendous interest generated by Indian films amongst Chinese audiences, a week-long Indian Film Festival was also launched at the scenic Marco Polo Flower World featuring five of India’s most successful recent movies - (“PK” “Three Idiots” “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” “Taare Zameen Par” “Queen” – all in Chinese). The Indian Film Festival was jointly inaugurated by H.E. Mr. Wang Zhijian, Vice Mayor of Yangzhou along with Consul General, and nearly 200 plus local Yangzhou people witnessed the inaugural screening of PK. At the same venue, an exhibition of Indian paintings (drawn by Chinese veteran artist Wang Zhijie) titled “India through Chinese Eyes”, was also put on display for three weeks. The artworks on display include some of the most iconic sites and sceneries from India, which were visited by a group of Chinese artists led by painter Wang Zhjiie in 2009.

8. All in all, a truly Indian experience was transported into Yangzhou. It is expected that the Business and Investment Forum coupled with the series of cultural events will foster a better understanding of Indian arts and culture in the minds of Yangzhou people and further promote bilateral investments between India and the Eastern China Region.

9. Earlier in the year in June 2016, Yangzhou had also hosted a grand 2nd International Day of Yoga celebrations with 1000 yoga practitioners joining in. Three leading companies from Yangzhou, including YAPP, one of China’s leading auto-component manufactures have a manufacturing base in India and are also planning to scale up their India operations.

Yangzhou (Jiangsu)
September 23, 2016