More Developed Countries Open Consulates in Western ChinaAs more and more multinational corporations extend their business to western China, an increasing number of developed countries have been setting up consular establishments in the region.To date, Japan, Canada, Britain, the United States and several Southeast Asian countries have already opened consulates or consulates-general in the municipality of Chongqing, Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, and Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province. Germany and Australia have recently sent study teams here to make preparations for setting up their consular establishments. Most of these countries, including Japan, Canada and Britain, have chosen to set up their consular establishments in Chongqing, the largest industrial and commercial city in southwest China. Chen Xiao, director of the Chongqing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, said that Chongqing is expected to become a consular center in western China because it is located between the developed east and the resourceful west and this will be favorable for foreign consulates to provide services to their multinationals seeking to invest in the western region. Chen said that Chongqing has set aside an area of 80 hectares for foreign consular establishments, while maintaining the largest foreign affairs department in the western part of the country. China made Chongqing its fourth municipality in 1997, aiming at turning it into an economic hub in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, China's longest, and the southwestern part of the country. The city used to attract many foreign consulates before the People's Republic was founded in 1949. It has now established economic and trade ties with more than 140 countries regions. The municipality opened an air route to Germany's Munich in April, the first direct air route between western China and Europe. |
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