The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Symposium on Enhanced Foreign Affairs Coordination was held on October 28, 2020. Foreign affairs offices of the three places signed the Memorandum on Enhanced Foreign Affairs Coordination in the 14th Five-Year Plan Period, and developed a list of cooperative projects to be implemented in that period. The list covers 11 projects in 8 aspects, including development of the Xiong'an New Area, resource sharing between sister cities, cooperation and exchanges on affairs concerning Hong Kong and Macao, significant international events, joint international promotion campaigns, foreign-related security cooperation, team building, and collaboration and sharing of think tanks.

It is introduced that the three places will launch a slew of measures to promote pragmatic cooperation in foreign affairs in the 14th Five-Year Plan period. They will refine the mechanism to jointly serve and guarantee the success of major state events and establish a brand in that regard with local characteristics. They will fortify the joint COVID-19 prevention and control mechanism concerning foreign nationals, and strengthen coordination in foreign-related security. The three places will work in unison to prepare for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and coordinate their resources to improve the service capability. They will serve and bolster the planning and construction of free trade zones and airport economic zones in the region to boost their coordinated development. Efforts will also be made to better the joint training mechanism, establish a pool of multi-lingual high-caliber translators and interpreters in due time, and strengthen building and sharing of foreign-related think tank resources, to promote complementation of resources and advantages.

It is also learnt that, starting from this year, the Joint Meeting of Directors-General of Foreign Affairs Offices of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei that was launched in 2018 will be replaced by the Symposium on Enhanced Foreign Affairs Coordination. This marked an innovative step to better align the foreign affairs work of the three places.

(Reporter: Fan Junsheng)