Guangdong aims to bolster ties with San Francisco Bay Area

The western section of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in California

China’s Guangdong Province wants more cooperation with the San Francisco Bay Area on scientific innovation and the low carbon industry, a senior provincial official from the mainland said.

Ouyang Weimin, vice governor of the Guangdong Province, said the San Francisco Bay Area, a world-renowned innovation hub, has made tremendous achievements in information technology, energy conservation, artificial intelligence, medicine and cultural innovation.

The Chinese province has a lot to learn from the San Francisco Bay Area in its efforts to build the Greater Bay Area, particularly related to technological innovation and the advanced manufacturing industry, he said.

Ouyang made the remarks after a major business and investment conference aimed at promoting economic and trade ties between Guangdong and San Francisco.

“It’s impossible for a bay area to remain permanently dynamic, maintain its sustainable development and grow with a long-lasting driving force without innovation and scientific technology,” Ouyang said.

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to more than 20 world-esteemed universities such as Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, as well as more than 700 research institutes, he noted, adding that this is “where we can learn while we are building our own first-class universities.”

Ouyang said he hoped the universities, research institutions and high-tech enterprises in the San Francisco Bay Area would cooperate with their counterparts in the Greater Bay Area to establish a high-end industrial innovation platform and venture capital institutions in order to facilitate the flow of high-caliber innovation talents and commercialize their research results.

Guangdong welcomes unicorns in Silicon Valley and Fortune 500 companies to invest in China’s Greater Bay Area and work with Guangdong enterprises to foster future growth, said the Guangdong vice governor.

Ouyang mentioned the similar assets of both bay areas. For example, they have similar eco-systems and beautiful sprawling coastlines.

He underscored the need for the two sides to cooperate in drafting programs for developing a low- carbon economy, energy conservation and highly efficient green energy to push for more green, sustainable development.

Ouyang led a Guangdong economic and trade delegation to attend the 2019 investment cooperation conference between China and the United States in downtown San Francisco, which drew more than 400 people, including entrepreneurs, business leaders and government officials from both countries.

The Chinese provincial delegation has wrapped up a tour in Los Angeles where it participated in the 2019 China-California Business Forum. DB/Xinhua