Li Jiheng and Chen Hao attended the signing ceremony and held an informal talk with Chairman Lv Yongjie and his entourage

On the 25th day of the month, a ceremony was held in Kunming City to mark the signing of a business collaboration project between Shanghai Municipality and Yunnan Province. Bright Food (Group) Co., Ltd. (or Bright Food for short) and Yunnan State Farms Group (or the Group for short) signed a strategic partnership agreement at the ceremony, which was attended by Li Jiheng, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee of Yunnan Province, and Chen Hao, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Governor of Yunnan Province. They then held an informal talk with Lv Yongjie, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Bright Food, and his entourage.

Secretary Li pointed out to those entrepreneurs from Shanghai who participated in the talk that lying where one of the Chinese economic circles, the Southeast Asian Economic Circle, and the South Asian Economic Circle, intersect with each other, Yunnan links China with South Asia and Southeast Asia, and that because of its strategic location at the intersection of the One Belt, One Road initiative and the national development strategy for the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the province enjoys significant advantages in areas like geographic location, agricultural resources, tourism resources, ecological resources, and scientific and educational resources. Since both Yunnan and Shanghai are regions of importance in the One Belt, One Road initiative and other national development strategies like the one for the Yangtze River Economic Belt, there exists a great deal of room for cooperation between the two administrative divisions, which is likely to achieve a win-win situation for both sides. Not only can businesses from Shanghai develop the market in southwestern China by maintaining a presence in Yunnan, but they can speed up their entry into markets in Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, Southern Europe, and Africa. The Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government of Yunnan Province attach great importance to the economic cooperation between Shanghai and Yunnan, making every effort to encourage and facilitate Shanghai-based businesses' entry into Yunnan, he said.

Chairman Lv said that Yunnan is widely acclaimed as a kingdom of animals and as a kingdom of plants thanks to its excellent climate and great abundance of resources, which makes the province a natural partner to Bright Food. Bright Food has already begun to cooperate with the province in many areas in recent years, in the process establishing friendly relations. At present, Yunnan supplies 250,000 tons of quality vegetable, falling into 22 categories, to Shanghai every year; these vegetable supplies from Yunnan account for 10% of Shanghai Jiangqiao Market's annual vegetable supplies, which has made Yunnan one of the major forces in supplying vegetables to Shanghai. In 2009, Bright Food acquired Yunnan Yinmore Sugar Group Company Ltd., the largest sugar producer in Yunnan, in an effort to gain advantages in China's three top sugar production regions, which are Guangxi, Yunnan, and Hainan. Chairman Lv further pointed out that Yunnan features a favorable geographic location, an excellent ecological environment, a great abundance of resources, and unlimited potential for development, that Shanghai and Yunnan each enjoy some unique advantages and may complement each other perfectly if they cooperate, and that Bright Food would enjoy a great of room for development as well as a host of opportunities in the province. Bright Food will cooperate with Yunnan in areas like coordinated development across the industry, resources sharing, joint platform building, the entry of Shanghai-based businesses into Yunnan, and the entry of products from Yunnan into Shanghai, with a view to raising the level of cooperation between Shanghai and Yunnan and helping achieve a win-win situation for both sides.

Among those who participated in the aforementioned activities were Cao Jianfang, member of the Standing Committee and Secretary General of the Provincial Party Committee of Yunnan Province; Gao Shuxun, Deputy Governor of Yunnan Province; Liu Huiyan, Deputy Governor of Yunnan Province; Shang Yuying, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce; Jiang Zhaobo, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pengxin Group Co., Ltd. and Rotating President of Shanghai Entrepreneur Association; and Yuan Yue, President of Feimalv.

During his stay in Yunnan, Chairman Lv was also accompanied by Chen Zujun, Chairman of Yunnan State Farms Group; Wu Zhongming, Secretary of the Party Committee of Yunnan State Farms Group; and Chi Zhonghua, General Manager of Yunnan State Farms Group, on an investigative tour of the group's center for the shipping of locally-grown vegetables to northern regions, Yunnan Coffee Plant, and other businesses. Chairman Lv and his entourage also had an exchange of views and experience with the group. Among those who accompanied Chairman Lv on his tour were company officials from some of Bright Food's departments and divisions, including its Industries Department, Shanghai Tangjiu (Group) Co., Ltd., Shanghai Vegetable Group, and Urban Lifestyle Enterprise Development Co., Ltd. (Chen Guangrong)