The 2024 World Manufacturing Convention, themed "Intelligent Manufacturing for a Better Future," was held in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, from Friday to Monday.

The 2024 World Manufacturing Convention, themed "Intelligent Manufacturing for a Better Future," was held in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, from Friday to Monday.

The convention, focusing on the topic related to the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, featured several exhibitions from domestic and international guests.

It showcased achievements at national-level and Anhui manufacturing development since the founding of China, including the world's first 25MW offshore wind turbine main bearing, innovative Jinghua shield machine, Qijiang-2 humanoid robot, Jiuzhou Yunjian's LongYun rocket engine, Origin Wukong superconducting quantum computer, and FDS' Hedianbao nuclear power system.

New and old friends commend business prospects

John McLean OBE, chair of the China UK Business Development Centre, visited Anhui for the first time. He believed that the province has enormous growth potential, with its business environment and policy support making it an especially attractive investment destination.

Among the first-time attendees was Vice Chairman of the Ulyanovsk provincial government of Russia Kabanov Oleg Vladimirovich. He told China News Network, the conference scale surprised him the most. “As we all know, the larger the event, the more opportunities there are for participants to develop mutually beneficial cooperation."

In 2017, Ulyanovsk and Anhui signed a cooperation agreement. Currently, both sides are working together to develop an action plan to implement a regional cooperation agreement.

Sean Stein, chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, is an old friend of Anhui, and this marked his 15th visit to the province. Over the past 18 months, he has led delegations to Anhui twice, due to the growing interest of foreign companies and investors in the region.

Stein noted that Anhui has a wealth of talent, a strong workforce, and a well-developed infrastructure, along with business-friendly policies introduced by the government. The government collaborates with businesses to create opportunities and improve the business environment, which he finds very encouraging.

A Qijiang-2 humanoid robot hands fruit to a visitor at the 2024 World Manufacturing Convention held in Anhui Province on Sept. 20, 2024. (Photo: China News Service/Han Suyuan)

Carlos Magariños, chairman emeritus of the Global Alliance of SMEs, was an important old guest at the convention.

Magariños said that returning to Anhui after six years filled him with joy. He was impressed by how Anhui has accurately grasped the new trends in global manufacturing development over the past six years and called the speed at which its manufacturing sector has grown truly remarkable.

As one of the organizers, the alliance is very willing to engage in comprehensive, multi-level exchanges and cooperation with Anhui and other partners in fields including manufacturing. This will also encourage more international companies to establish themselves in China, especially in Anhui, to achieve resource sharing and win-win outcomes through practical cooperation, he said.

Success of Chaohu Conference attracts global projects

The Chaohu Overseas Chinese conference on innovation and entrepreneurship (Chaohu Conference) is a key event of the 2024 World Manufacturing Convention, aiming to bring together high-level talent from among the overseas alumni of prestigious institutions including the University of Science and Technology of China, to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in Anhui, and further support high-quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.

Li Shiyun, chairman of the Overseas Chinese Federation of Anhui Province, said that the Chaohu overseas Chinese conference has been successfully held seven times, including activities to present provincial development and new innovations by overseas Chinese, attracting over 1,000 alumni from prestigious universities in more than 100 countries and helping establish high-tech projects and talent teams locally.

At the Chaohu conference matchmaking event of "Overseas Chinese innovation and entrepreneurship and Anhui-Hong Kong-Macao Manufacturing," 43 overseas Chinese projects, 33 Hong Kong and Macao projects, and five Hefei competition projects were signed, totaling over 36.3 billion yuan ($5.15 dollars) in investment.

The China Federation of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs signs several projects at each World Manufacturing Convention, with total contracts growing each year. Currently, the total investment from these signed projects is about 1.2 billion yuan, said Wang Bangkan, vice president of the federation.

Over the past six years since 2018 when the World Manufacturing Convention made Hefei, Anhui, its permanent venue, the province has consistently issued invitations to the world, drawing in a diverse array of domestic and international business representatives.

Notably, this year, foreign guests constituted more than 50 percent of key attendees for the first time.

Since 2018, the convention has facilitated the signing of over 4,000 cooperative projects and attracted major initiatives, including Volkswagen's new energy vehicles from Germany.