BARCELONA, Spain, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The business summit held in Barcelona, Spain on Friday aimed to bolster ties and foster cooperation between the city and Shanghai, marking a significant step towards stronger international partnerships.
Focusing on areas of mutual interest such as financial services, digital economy, smart cities and tourism, the event was attended by the deputy mayors responsible for economic promotion of both cities, Hua Yuan and Jordi Valls.
Valls requested that his Chinese counterpart lend support in restoring direct flights between Shanghai and Barcelona operated by Air China that was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, "in order to boost relations between the two cities."
The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce promoted the Chinese city with the "Invest in Shanghai, Share the Future" presentation attended by some 200 representatives of companies, business organizations and public authorities from China and Spain.
Among the Chinese dignitaries who addressed the audience during the Shanghai presentation were China's acting Consul General in Barcelona Hu Aimin and the Vice President of the Bright Food group Xu Ruqing.
"This kind of event brings our partner and us together, we sit together and we have very constructive dialogue face-to-face, and with this dialogue we build up trust and strong collaboration that leads to a lasting relationship," Ji Wei, vice general manager of the Freshippo retail chain, told Xinhua.
During the event, the Chinese retailer signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Spanish olive oil producer, Borges Branded Foods, which Ji said would help "Chinese consumers come into contact with good Spanish products."
"We believe that this type of partnership helps us a lot to reach Chinese households with high-quality products that promote a healthy Mediterranean way of life," added Jaume Roig, the Managing Director of Borges Branded Foods.
The MoU signed between the two companies was just one of a number of cooperation agreements sealed at the summit between Chinese and Spanish firms and organizations, including the port authorities of both cities.
"Events like this show the interest there is from our companies to go to China, but there's also increasing interest from Chinese companies to establish themselves here in Barcelona," Berta Perez Pey, director of Internationalization and European Projects at the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, told Xinhua.
Barcelona and Shanghai are celebrating 23 years as twin cities.
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