On April 17th, a Burmese delegation led by Mr. U Kyaw Win, vice chair of Myanmar-China Friendship Association of Mandalay, visited Changzhou. Mr. Zou Hongguo, chair of the Changzhou Municipal People’s Political Consultative Conference received the delegation and talked with Mr. U Kyaw Win.

The delegation aimed to align with China’s One Road and One Belt Initiative and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor Initiative, and explore potential business opportunities by reaching out to government agencies, media and chambers of commerce.

In the talk with Mr. U Kyaw Win, Mr. Zou said that China and Myanmar are close neighbors. And Changzhou is a national historic and cultural city as well as a leading modern manufacturing city. With vitality and an open mind, Changzhou is actively participating in the One Belt and One Road Initiative and is willing to strengthen ties with Southeast Asian countries for win-win cooperation.

In 2015, Changzhou’s foreign trade with Myanmar reached 140 million US dollars. As of now, 7 Changzhou local companies have made investments in Myanmar with a total investment volume of 17.84 million US dollars. And the main investment sectors are agricultural machinery and textile.

The delegation is also going to visit the Changzhou Vocational Institute of Engineering. The institute has been taking Burmese students since 2015. And the first batch of Burmese students to the institute were admitted last October. In April, the institute will send a delegation to Myanmar for vocational education programs. And in May, a new batch of Burmese students are expected to enroll in the institute.