On April 17, a Japanese delegation headed by Mr. Maeda Tadashi, managing executive officer of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), arrived in Changzhou for investigation. Mr. Fang Guoqiang, vice mayor of Changzhou Municipal People’s Government, met with the delegates at the Administration Center.

‘Changzhou is currently speeding up the development of smart city, while Japan has already made successful experience in this field,' said Fang. He expressed the hope that the two sides will have more exchanges in terms of the application of smart-city technologies and extend cooperation in finance, healthcare and other areas.

Maeda considered Changzhou as city with good infrastructure and development potential, and referred to Yangtze River Delta as the center for economic development in Southeast Asia. He expressed the hope that Japan will cooperate with the Yangtze River Delta region, which will definitely benefit the progress of smart city industry.

During their stay in Changzhou, Maeda and his delegation visited the Green Building Demonstration Zone and the Health Care Industrial Park in Wujin, promoting industrial matchmaking in the area of smart city.

Currently, there are more than 500 Japanese companies in Changzhou. From January to March, the city's total import and export trade with Japan reached $ 920 million, up 20 % over last year, of which exports amounted to $ 600 million .