Shanghai accelerates Silk Road cooperation

LMS
chinadaily.com.cn| Updated: December 19, 2014

The city of Shanghai signed a strategic partnership cooperation memorandum with Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on Dec 18 to step up its cooperation with countries and cities along the "One Belt One Road" (the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road").

According to the memorandum, Shanghai Gold Exchanges will set up a substation in Abu Dhabi to deal with issues concerning its international board, as well as the overseas business of Shanghai International Energy Exchange Limited (INE), a global exchange that operates regulated derivative marketplaces in crude oil, natural gas and other petrochemical products.

Shanghai will carry out in-depth cooperation with Abu Dhabi in international commerce and trade, finance, tourism, conference and exhibition, petroleum exploration and development, fine chemicals engineering, and overseas project contracting operations under the guidance of the "One Belt One Road" proposal. Recently the two parties are planning five key projects in finance, energy and agricultural products. They will start joint venture banks to conduct overseas clearing and settlement of yuan.

According to statistics of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Shanghai has dynamic economic and trade contact with the United Arab Emirates in 2014, with UAE enterprises investing $30 million in Shanghai and importing goods worth $1.93 billion from the city, a 5.6 percent growth from last year.

By the end of June, there were altogether 12 Shanghai enterprises investing in the UAE, with a total investment of $40 million.

This year, Shanghai has put its “One Belt One Road” cooperation on the fast track. It will sign a cooperation memorandum with countries including Singapore and Turkey.