□ Article / Journalist Yang Yan Tr. by Gao Li

Chongqing and Brisbane Building Consensus to Seek New Urban Economic Development

□ Article / Journalist Yang Yan Tr. by Gao Li

On September 15, the mayor of Brisbane, Australia, and his party came to Chongqing for business investment promotion, with an expectation of reaching cooperation in fi elds like pension, healthy care, life science, food, agriculture, digital technique, logistics,advanced manufacturing, infrastructure construction and urban planning. This Brisbane business delegation was led by Graham Quirk, mayor of Brisbane, with an entourage consisting of Australian business representatives from numerous fields. They conducted deep communication with Chinese enterprises in different sectors in this forum.

The Old Friendship Between Chongqing and Brisbane

Brisbane, the third-largest city in Australia, signed a friendly cooperation framework agreement with Chongqing in 2005. Recent years have witnessed a more intimate communication between Chongqing and Brisbane in fi elds like economy, scienti fi c research,education and culture, which promotes economic exchange and development, increases opportunities for investment and creates lots of jobs.

Ling Minghao, Consul-General of Consulate General of Australia in Chengdu, said in the investment promotion that as China’s southwest is landlocked, the urban development is restricted by its geographic location in the past years. However, the Belt and Road initiative and the Western Development have injected fresh vitality to Chongqing’s development. Its soaring GDP in recent years and open of the new-built terminal have improved Chongqing’s status in international community, which in turn promises great potential for cooperation between Chongqing and Brisbane in medical technology, education and tourism.

Chongqing shares similarities with Brisbane in civic landscape.Chongqing is featured by intersection of two rivers (Jialing River and the Yangtze River) and water wharf, while Brisbane booms along the river; row upon row of tall buildings stand in Chongqing,while well arranged high-rise buildings tower in Brisbane. Viewing from the highest at night, lights and colors surrounding the two cities present a prosperity.

Brisbane Opens its Door for Enterprises in Chongqing to“Dig Gold”

As an emerging metropolis in Australia, Brisbane is a multicultural center gathering creativity, innovation and quality education together and attracts millions of international tourists annually.China, however, has become its most important source of tourists.

Graham Quirk, in this investment promotion, also expressed that this is his eighth visit to Chongqing with which he had conducted cooperation in infrastructure development such as subway construction. Thus he attaches great attention to the cooperation and exchange between the two cities.

In this promotion, Graham Quirk introduced main undergoing infrastructure projects like Brisbane subway, Brisbane airport company, Queen’s Pier and Howard Smith Pier, covering residence,culture, tourism, retailing and relaxation. Apart from infrastructure construction, Graham Quirk also introduced eight important growing fi elds such as knowledge and enterprise service, accommodation and visitor economy, higher and international education, energy and resources, creativity and digital industries, real estate development and construction, advanced manufacturing, food industry and agriculture-based economy.

“This series of projects, till 2022, will double the accommodation of air passengers, the freight capacity and the land for urban residence.” Graham Quirk declared, “ In future, Brisbane will experience rapid economic growth and sustainable growth will be achieved in the next 15 to 20 years.”

Besides, Graham Quirk said that Brisbane owns strong Chinese commercial community. Most of the international students in Brisbane come from China, up to 13,000 studying in the city.