Observers expect to learn more

Foreigners invited to observe the Shenzhen legislature’s annual session arrive for the opening meeting yesterday. Sun Yuchen

Consul officials in Guangzhou, leaders of overseas compatriots and youths from Hong Kong and Macao who were invited to the Shenzhen legislature’s annual session expected to learn more about the city and its practices at the opening meeting of the city’s legislature yesterday.

Boonyoon Yongcharoenrat, president of the Thai Young Chinese Chamber of Commerce, has been a regular attendee of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress (MPC). “This year’s MPC is very important because multiple major policies and guidelines were issued last year,” said Yongcharoenrat. “There are around 15 million overseas Chinese in Thailand. Many of them have connections of some kind with Shenzhen. These policies and guidelines should be made known to them.”

Economic opportunities are the focus of Cissy Sun, secretary of the Macao Shenzhen Economic and Cultural Promotion Association. “The economic structure of Macao is not very diversified. Shenzhen, on the contrary, boasts a diversified economic structure. So I’m coming to see if there is anything we can learn from Shenzhen. I’ll be paying special attention to economic and cultural exchange opportunities brought by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.”

It is the first time that Luciano Martin Donadio Linares, deputy consul of the Argentine Consulate General in Guangzhou, has visited Shenzhen and attended the session.

“I came to Guangzhou six months ago. I expect to learn about Chinese institutions and about how your institution works. Shenzhen is the most important city in South China and is projected to be the Chinese city of the future. I am happy to be invited to attend this meeting,” said Donadio Linares.

Liberty Timewell, deputy consul general of the British Consulate General in Guangzhou, who speaks fluent Chinese, is also joining the Shenzhen MPC session for the first time. However, she attended the national session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last year.

“We look forward to hearing about Shenzhen’s plans and the city’s achievements in the previous year. Shenzhen is moving very quickly, so we are always keen to see how rapidly it develops. We are very interested in seeing that Shenzhen is a pilot, especially about sustainable development. As the U.K. is very focused on COP26 for this year, we are looking a lot around sustainable development and how to build a city in a green and sustainable way. So we hope to hear Shenzhen’s plans around this area,” said Timewell.

Zhang Qiaozhen, representative of overseas Chinese from Sweden and president of the Nordic Shenzhen General Chamber of Commerce, is proud to be a Shenzhener.

“Shenzhen is a city of science and technology and I would love to tell the story of Shenzhen to the world, to promote the city’s science and technology to the world and bring overseas science and technology as well as talents to Shenzhen,” said Zhang.

Zhang also hopes the government will take bolder action to achieve the goal of building the city into a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Carrie Chan, representative of Macao youths and a member of the Macao Shenzhen Economic and Cultural Promotion Association, hopes the Shenzhen and Macao governments will enhance the exchanges and communication, as well as create better platforms for young people to start businesses in each other’s cities.

As building the Greater Bay Area is in the preliminary stage and the legal system is not mature, Macao enterprises have no idea what they need to do to establish their businesses in Shenzhen. That’s an issue that needs to be considered, Chan said.