Exclusive | 'Mind-blowing and eye-opening': Foreign political, business leaders stunned by GBA tech advancements

A Huangpu promotion conference was held in Guangzhou on Tuesday (March 21) evening, as a delegation of foreign consular corps and business communities arrived after their Dongguan visit.

Known as the "happiest district of China" and a fertile land for foreign direct investment, Huangpu is one of 11 urban districts of city of Guangzhou.

Addressing the event, Guangzhou Party chief Lin Keqing warmly welcomed the delegation, introduced the city's strengths and recommended the city as an ideal place for doing business.

Chief of Guangzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau Hong Qian and Hhuangpu District Party chief Chen Jie gave presentations in English on investment and business environment in Guangzhou and Huangpu District, respectively.

Prior to the promotion conference tonight, the delegation visited the Mino Equipment and Medprin Biotech in Huangpu District. 

Johannes Hack, head of the German Chamber of Commerce in HK, described the innovation and technology displays at the two companies as "mind-blowing and eye-opening."

He, in particular, mentioned the manufacturing robot presented at Mino and the synthetic dural substitute displayed at Medprin, saying that he was very impressed by their technological advancements.

He added that the emerging innovations in the region have huge market potential in Germany and that he looked forward to more cooperation.

Also today, the delegation visited China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS), Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, and Huawei Songshan Lake Base in Dongguan, before they set off for Guangzhou. 

According to a presenter, the CSNS is the first national major science and technology infrastructure in the Greater Bay Area, and is also an internationally leading and core unit of the China science and technology industry innovation center, providing an advanced and powerful research platform for life sciences, new materials science, new nuclear energy development, etc.

The delegation listened to the detailed introduction of the researchers and visited the 17-meter underground neutron accelerator tunnel, praising the great role played by this "major national instrument" in basic research and high-tech innovation.

The Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory is one of the first four provincial laboratories in Guangdong Province. Chen Dongmin, the executive deputy director of the laboratory, introduced examples of the laboratory's rapid service to industrial translation with scientific and technological resources.

Many members of the delegation expressed their appreciation for the sharing and commercialization mode of the laboratory and asked questions about the operation mode in detail.

Igor Sagitov, Consul General of Russia in Hong Kong, was very interested in the commercialization and research translation model of the laboratory, saying that it is a good example for Russia to learn and will bring back the relevant information next.

At Huawei's Songshan Lake base, the delegation learned about the digital applications of 5G technology that Huawei is promoting in smart coal mines, smart ports and other fields.

The delegation also took a ride on the pure electric red train to enjoy the scenery across the base.

In an exclusive interview with DotDotNews, Consul-General of South Africa in HK Mojalefa Mogono said he is excited to learn about the intelligent mining application powered by Huawei's 5G technology, saying that it will create a much safer environment for miners to work underground. With rich mineral resources in African countries, Mogono said he is looking forward to more cooperation and communication with Chinese service providers in the future.