Swiss envoy talks with Guiyang Foreign Affairs Office

Suzanne Streit, acting consul general of the Consulate General of Switzerland in Chengdu, paid a visit on March 16 to the Guiyang Foreign Affairs Office in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province.

She held talks on sister cities and tourism and other potential areas of cooperation with Yang Liu, a Party group member and deputy director of the Guiyang Foreign Affairs Office.

Suzanne Streit, acting consul general of the Consulate General of Switzerland in Chengdu, holds talks with the Guiyang Foreign Affairs Office. [Photo/guiyang.gov.cn]

Attendees also included Niu Yufei, cultural communication and project officer of the Consulate General of Switzerland in Chengdu and Zhang Xuerong, Party secretary and director of the Guiyang bureau of big data development and management.

Yang gave a brief introduction on the city's development in terms of its economic development, ecosystem and environment, resources, industrial layout, location and transportation, and its open environment.

Yang invited the mayors of Swiss cities to participate in the foreign mayors' forum during the China International Big Data Industry Expo 2023 (Big Data Expo 2023) on May 26-28 – laying the foundation to promote the establishment of friendly relations between interested Swiss cities and Guiyang.

It is also hoped that the two sides will strengthen exchanges and cooperation in ecological civilization construction, mountain tourism, and green development. This will achieve better development of the tourism industries and environmental protection governance on both sides, Yang added.

Later, Zhang talked about the Big Data Expo 2023 in detail. Zhang invited the Swiss envoy to participate in the event and for her country to hold big data-related themed activities there. Zhang also invited Swiss information technology, digital economy-related companies and research institutions to participate in the expo.

Responding, the acting consul general undertook to actively participate in the expo, promptly report information on it to the Swiss embassy in China – and to encourage relevant cities in Switzerland to participate in the foreign mayors' forum during the event.

Streit said she will also contact relevant Swiss investment and development agencies, and mobilize relevant Swiss companies in China and Swiss domestic companies. They will pay attention to and actively participate in the expo, to promote China-Switzerland bilateral investment.

In addition, she suggested that the two sides strengthen exchanges and promote practical cooperation with Guiyang in ecological and environmental protection and green development, through specific work plans.