IN THE DEEP
2 min readZhuhai’s Role in the Belt and Road Enhanced by CLAC Expo and China-Israel
Investment Summit e proud maritime tradition of Zhuhai has put the city in a prominent position in the Belt and Road endeavors. The city’s unique advantages in communicating with the outside world were already firmly established by the late years of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when present-day Zhuhai-Macao region was already a significant East-West cultural exchange and trading post-at a time when China’s dominance of the world’s maritime trade-routes were quickly being lost to the Europeans in their hungry pursuit of gold, silver, tea, porcelain and spices. Today, Zhuhai has proven once again to be an increasingly important participant in the country’s “marine renaissance”. The 21st century has seen the city embracing the sea with lofty aspirations.
The 4th China-Israel Investment Summit(2018), Zhuhai he year 2017 saw the success of the first CLAC Expo, hosted in Hengqin, Zhuhai. A delegation of media representatives from the Maritime Silk Road countries took part in a series of activities to report the highlights of achievements and broadcast to a world audience the infinite possibilities of international cooperation in the Belt and Road context.
In July 2018, some 5,800 participants representing more than 2,400 companies from China and Israel got together again in Zhuhai to brainstorm about intensifying communication in technology, innovation and investment.
Jointly established by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the Ministry of Economy of Israel, the Embassy of Israel in Beijing and the Infinity Group in 2016, the China-Israel Investment Summit has been held in Beijing and Tel Aviv, with the two most recent events hosted by Zhuhai in 2017 and 2018.
Zhuhai is part of the Pearl River Delta, ranking among the biggest, most highly concentrated, built-up areas in the world, encompassing Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, and Huizhou, as well as Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Zones.
The islands within the Zhuhai territory include a number of near-shore islands, often connected to the mainland by bridges or causeways(such as Hengqin, Qi’ao, and Yeli islands), as well as certain islands in the open South China Sea(the Wanshan Archipelago). Some of the latter are actually geographically closer to Hong Kong than to the Zhuhai mainland. Such an outstanding geographic location, together with a wide range of supporting infrastructure and deepwater ports, serves as a major attraction for foreign capital.
The unremitting innovation that is ongoing at the Gaolan Port and China(GDFTZ) Hengqin further enhances the city’s strengths in its involvement in the renaissance of the Maritime Silk Road. The brave heart of a young Yung Wing(born in Zhuhai and the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university) is still beating in the subconscious of all Zhuhai people bracing up to develop this corridor on the sea.
