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On November 18, the 2024 Awarding Ceremony of Zijin Friendship Ambassador of Nanjing Urban Internationalization took place at the Nanjing City Wall Museum. This event was co-hosted by the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Foreign Affairs Office of Nanjing Municipal People’s Government and the People’s Government of Qinhuai District. Ji Tiejun, Vice Mayor of Nanjing, and Jin Weidong, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC Nanjing Municipal Committee, attended the ceremony and awarded certificates to international friends. Soh Chee Kiong, Distinguished Professor at the School of Civil Engineering of Southeast University, Oliver Giersberg, Senior Vice President and Chief Operation Officer of Bosch Home Appliances Group Region Greater China, and other global friends and overseas Chinese who are enthusiastic in building Nanjing into an international city were awarded this honor.
Since 2020, Nanjing has held four consecutive awarding ceremonies of Zijin Friendship Ambassador of Nanjing Urban Internationalization. This year witnesses the expansion of the circle of friendship ambassadors again. So far, there have been a total of 60 international friends in Nanjing from all walks of life being on the list of friendship ambassadors. They take the initiative in participating in various activities hosted by Nanjing to facilitate international cooperation and exchange in sectors such as economy, trade, science and technology, and culture. They have made positive contributions to promoting the openness and development of Nanjing, enlarging the scope of friendly exchanges between China and other countries and enhancing Nanjing’s international image.
The Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce introduced the promotion details of Nanjing urban internationalization and expressed gratitude to friends from all circles domestically and internationally for their concerns and support for Nanjing’s growth. In recent years, exchanges and interactions have been actively fostered to enable friendship ambassadors to act as a bridge between Nanjing and other countries and regions, expanding the city’s circle of opening up and cooperation. Nanjing’s service standards have also been enhanced, highlighting the new image of its development. Currently, this city has carried out trade cooperation with more than 200 countries and regions, with overseas investment projects distributed in over 90 countries and regions. It has attracted investors from more than 130 countries and regions, including 113 Fortune Global 500 companies, and established a sister-city relationship with 106 cities from 58 countries.In theWorld Cities 2024 released by GaWC, Nanjing climbed to the 75th place in the global ranking. Next, Nanjing will continue to adhere to the spirit of openness and inclusiveness, do a good job in serving foreigners as always, and continuously improve the level of Nanjing urban internationalization.
As representatives of the Zijin Friendship Ambassador of Nanjing Urban Internationalization, Nathaniel Farouz, Managing Director of Sindora Living at Keppel, and Oliver Giersberg, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Bosch Home Appliances Group in Greater China, made exchanges and shared views at the conference. Mr. Nathaniel Farouz expressed that Nanjing is an ideal city partner and thanked the Nanjing Municipal People’s Government for creating favorable conditions for multinational companies. Mr. Oliver Giersberg said that Nanjing is an international city suitable for foreigners to live and work, and he is ready to promote and publicize Nanjing’s excellent business environment as a representative of foreign companies in Nanjing and a Nanjinger.
Over the years, to further remove impediments faced by foreigners working and living in Nanjing, the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce has cooperated with related departments to release the English, Japanese and Korean versions of the manual In Nanjing: Service Guide for Foreigners. From eight aspects, i.e., “Welcome to Nanjing”“Traffic in Nanjing”“Food in Nanjing” “Travel in Nanjing”“Shopping in Nanjing”“Living in Nanjing”“Study in Nanjing”“Business in Nanjing”, this manual assists foreigners in quickly integrating into the life in Nanjing in terms of travel and leisure, investment & business operation and settlement. A donation ceremony for multilingual versions of In Nanjing: Service Guide for Foreigners 2024 was held at the conference, and representatives from 8 overseas economic and trade institutions in Jiangsu, including the Nanjing Chapter of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, Nanjing Office for Trade and Investment of State Government of Victoria (Australia), and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, as well as international student representatives from 16 universities in the University-Local Cooperation Alliance, including Nanjing University, Southeast University, and Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, accepted donated books.
In addition, the “Foreigners’ Service” program co-created by the Nanjing Data Bureau, the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce and the Foreign Affairs Office of Nanjing Municipal People’s Government made its debut at the conference. This service has been available on the “Me in Nanjing” WeChat mini program, Alipay and “My Nanjing” App, offering 24/7 assistance for foreigners living in Nanjing, thus further enriching the functions of foreign-related service platforms in Nanjing. This service program is available in Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean, equipped with map-based information display and search functions. It has developed information such as “15-minute service circle” map services and quick guide services, which can be accessed by one-click dialing and one-click navigation. It’s convenient and efficient as no registration is required and users can just scan to use.
At the conference, Qinhuai District recommended its investment environment. As a famous historical district with inheritance and development and an eclectic place of innovation, Qinhuai possesses a sincere and open business environment. Attendees include related responsible persons of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the CPPCC Nanjing Municipal Committee, the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Education, the Nanjing Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Foreign Affairs Office of Nanjing Municipal People’s Government, the Nanjing Municipal Investment Promotion Bureau, the Nanjing Data Bureau, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Nanjing Sub-Council, the People’s Government of Qinhuai District and Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation.
