The Lanzhou mayor, Yuan Zhanting, introduced the city to attendees of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue Forum on Silk Road Cooperation on May 29. He highlighted the importance of building the Silk Road economic belt and the opportunities the initiative brings to the city.

“Lanzhou is an intersection on the route of transporting goods from inland China to central Asia, west Asia and Europe. The opening of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang high speed rail and Lanzhou-Chongqing railway will further increase its advantage in transportation,” Yuan said. Yuan elaborated on five aspects that Lanzhou will be dedicated to in the construction of the Silk Road economic belt.

The first is building the city into a vital channel on the economic belt. Based on the Lanzhou-Xinjiang high speed rail, Lanzhou will build a route to central Asia, west Asia and Europe, make effort to open a Lanzhou-Europe freight train and join the international logistics system.

The second is facilitating trade on the economic belt. The city will speed up its construction of the Lanzhou international harbor area, the railway container terminal and the comprehensive bonded zone to strengthen its function as a comprehensive logistics hub in order to boost the transportation and trade of goods at home and abroad.

The third is Lanzhou becoming an important base for the petrochemical industry and strengthening its energy cooperation with central Asian and west Asian nations.

The fourth is launching a set of Silk Road tourism projects to display the charm of the city.

The fifth is promoting the cultural and people-to-people exchanges between Lanzhou and the Silk Road countries. Lanzhou plans to invite the Silk Road countries to set up consulates, business and culture agencies in the city and boost exchanges in culture, science, technology and education.

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