MEISHAN, China, Sept. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- From September 16 to 20, the 18th Western China International Fair is held in Chengdu. More than 50,000 guests and merchants from 66 countries (regions) participated in the exhibition online and on site, according to Meishan Municipal People's Government.

At this year's Western China International Fair, Meishan City, Sichuan Province, China, has presented the largest ever exhibition since its participation. The exhibition is divided into two venues: Comprehensive Image Venue and International Cooperation Venue, with a total exhibition area of 1,575 square meters. The content of the exhibition is rich and colorful. It not only shows the historical and cultural heritage brought by Meishan as the hometown of Su Dongpo, the great ancient scholar, but also the ecological advantages that it relies on as a national forest city and an important part of the Sichuan Area of the Giant Panda National Park, as well as characteristic local industries such as bamboo weaving and Dongpo pickled vegetable. Represented by innovative industry projects such as Sino-French Agricultural Technology Park, Unilever (Sichuan) Global Production Base, Legoland of Tianfu New Area, Sino Japanese International Healthy Care Precinct, etc., the exhibition shows a new city image with innovation and opening-up.

It is worth noting that, to enhance the interactive experience, the Meishan Exhibition Hall is embedded with modern sound and light equipment such as "virtual roaming, 360 holographic images", and a cartoon image designed with Su Dongpo, the representative figure of Meishan, as the prototype, is used as the virtual host to tell visitors about the development of Meishan from the aspects of culture, ecology, and industry.

Meishan is located in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, an important area of China's "the Belt and Road" strategy. It belongs to the Chengdu metropolitan area led by the core city, with obvious regional advantages. In recent years, Meishan has prioritized "open development" and established economic and trade relations with 70 countries and regions. In Sichuan, it is one of the fastest-growing areas, with the second-largest number of Fortune Global 500 enterprises establishing their presence, behind Chengdu.

In addition to the obvious geographical advantages and potential industrial resources that have won the favor of foreign investors, the positive attitude of the local government is also an important reason for attracting investment. Meishan makes full use of international and domestic exhibitions such as the China International Import Expo, Canton Fair, and Western China International Fair to actively promote its advantageous industries. In the process of actively "going out" and "bringing in", many high-quality projects and enterprises have settled down in Meishan.

Taking the Western China International Fair as an example, at the 17th Western China International Fair held in 2018, Meishan signed 26 projects with a total contract amount of RMB 28.6 billion. Relying on this platform, high-quality projects such as Lenovo Dieyun (Meishan) Innovation and Technology Park Project, Mengniu Dairy (Meishan) Annual Production of 180,000 Tons of Low-Temperature Milk Production Project, Lekai New Material Electronic Material R&D and Industrial Base Project have settled down in Meishan.

From January to August 2021, Meishan signed 109 new projects for investment attraction, with the contract amount reaching RMB 249.814 billion. The number of projects and the contract amount increased by 18.48% and 65.94% year-on-year, respectively.

On August 3, Shanghai Shanshan Lithium Battery Material Technology Co., Ltd., a well-known Chinese lithium-ion battery anode material R&D and production company, formally signed a contract with Pengshan District, Meishan City. The company will invest RMB 10 billion to create an integration project with an annual output of 200,000 tons of lithium battery anode material.

Zheng Yonggang, chairman of the company's board of directors, believes that although Meishan is not currently a major city in the lithium battery industry, it has a good business environment and new energy industry foundation. The project will help Meishan become the world's largest lithium battery anode material production base.