On September 13, the Ministerial Conference of the Fourth China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum kicked off in the city of Qionghai in south China’s Hainan Province.

Focusing on emerging sectors and the new opportunities that green, low-carbon development and digital technologies have brought to China-Caribbean cooperation, Wang Shouwen, China International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. He stated that the cooperation between China and Caribbean countries has long boosted bilateral development, and brought benefits to people of both sides. This year’s meeting held in Hainan—a frontier region of China’s opening-up—was set to help Caribbean countries gain a better understanding of China’s opening-up policies and high-quality development, and propel closer and deeper cooperation between the two sides. To meet the cooperation needs of enterprises from both sides, China’s Ministry of Commerce will provide support in policy guarantee and platform development.

Wang Shouwen, China International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Ministerial Conference of the Fourth China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum held in Qionghai on Sept. 13. (Photo: Hainan Daily App)

The development of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) was introduced to attendees during the conference. Feng Fei, Secretary of Hainan's CPC Provincial Committee, highlighted the policy and geological advantages of the FTP, especially Hainan’s potential to develop new quality productive forces in seed breeding, and the deep-sea and aerospace industries. Mr. Feng also noted that Hainan will work to enhance exchanges and cooperation with Caribbean countries in the areas of agriculture, tourism, maritime affairs, and ecology.

Liu Xiaoming, Governor of Hainan Provincial People’s Government, stated that Hainan will move forward to promote the industrial integration with Caribbean countries, and bring more Caribbean quality products to the Chinese markets. The Hainan FTP will continue to improve its business environment in order to attract investment from Caribbean countries, as well as to facilitate economic and trade cooperation in green trade, digital trade, the low-carbon economy, and ecological conservation.

Delegations from 11 Caribbean countries and the secretariat of the Caribbean Community attended this year’s three-day meeting, with a delegation from the government of Haiti participating as an observer.

Established in 2004, the China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum has served as the highest-level economic and trade dialogue mechanism between the governments of China and Caribbean countries. Over the past 20 years, the forum has facilitated fruitful cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, human resources and health care.