A Chinese and foreign chambers of commerce salon was launched by a local industry and commerce federation over the weekend, laying out a welcome mat for chambers of commerce from home and abroad registered in Shanghai to join up.

The salon aims to build a regular exchange mechanism between Chinese and foreign chambers of commerce, investment promotion agencies and enterprises in Shanghai and serves as a platform to help Chinese and foreign enterprises carry out business cooperation, project docking and cultural exchanges.

The launch ceremony was held at the 2023 Dialogue between Consular Officials and Private Entrepreneurs, which was attended by nearly 100 entrepreneurs and more than 70 consulate officials from 35 countries in Shanghai.

The dialogue was initiated by the Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce in 2013.

In its past seven sessions, it has brought together more than 2,200 private entrepreneurs, consuls general and officials of foreign consulates in Shanghai, as well as representatives of overseas chambers of commerce and business organizations in the city.

Wang Xiaohan, executive vice chairman of the federation, said that Shanghai's new development will bring fresh opportunities for open cooperation among countries.

"We must uphold the consensus of openness, maintain diversified and stable economic and trade relations, and lay a solid foundation for win-win cooperation," he suggested.

"We must grasp the trend of the times, strengthen cooperation in science and technology, ecology, culture and other fields to foster mutual development."

According to Yok Yee Chan, consul general of the Republic of Fiji in Shanghai and dean of Shanghai Consular Corps, Shanghai has rightfully earned its reputation as a welcoming and open city for businesses from all over the world.

She noted that such commitment has sparked cross-border collaborations and has turned Shanghai into a thriving and highly sought-after destination for private and foreign investments.

"We hope that more foreign enterprises will become Shanghai's partners in cooperation and investment, more successful bilateral projects can be achieved through the joint efforts of Shanghai and the global community in the near future," she said.

Meanwhile, the federation signed memorandums of understanding with the Thai Chamber of Commerce in China and the Latvia Travel and Investment Development Committee during the event.

The Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce Youth Entrepreneurs Association and the Young Entrepreneurs Organization of the European Union, as well as the North Bund International Chamber of Commerce Alliance and the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association of Turkey also signed contracts to expand communication and jointly promote chambers of commerce and enterprises to develop high-level overseas exchanges and cooperation.

Wichai Thawisin, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce in China, told City News Service that such events and the establishment of the chambers of commerce salon can strengthen the friendship between China and Thailand as well as enhance mutual understanding.

"Recently, our new government has approved a visa waiver for visitors from China during the year-end high season, allowing them to stay for 30 days without visa," Wichai noted. "So it's very important to have mutual communication."

Kristaps Solovejs, chairman of the Latvia Travel and Investment Development Committee, claimed it was a great opportunity and privilege to participate in this kind of event and hoped that the cooperation would yield some fruitful results.

"As a small country, what we can offer is high added-value product that comes from our natural resources," he said. "Latvia and China have had many success stories we are just looking forward to the next one."