On April 18, the Foreign Diplomats Explore Beijing: Pinggu District Special Event was held. The event was jointly hosted by the Office of Foreign Affairs Committee of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and the Foreign Affairs Office of Beijing Municipal Government, as well as the Pinggu District Government. It brought together 46 ambassadors and senior diplomats from 23 countries and international organizations including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Participants visited Pinggu District to gain an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of Beijing’s vibrant practices in advancing all-round rural revitalization and promoting integrated urban-rural development.
The diplomats attended a promotional briefing of Pinggu District, learning about the district’s achievements in building the High-Tech Farming Z-Park, deepening the integration of agriculture, culture and tourism, and developing a world-class leisure valley. They also held in-depth and practical exchanges with Pinggu’s enterprises, focusing on cooperation in areas such as modern agriculture, leisure tourism, and trade logistics.
During the event, the diplomats toured Bibo Island of Jinhai Lake, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the ecological conservation area and experiencing firsthand the achievements in building a Beautiful Beijing. They visited the No.0 Store of the High-Tech Farming Z-Park to witness the development of Beijing’s urban modern agriculture, and experienced up close the technological applications and innovative products from “farm to table”. They also visited Zixingyuan Food Technology Co., Ltd., where they learned in detail how traditional cuisines are being revitalized through automated and intelligent production. At the Violin Culture Experience Center, they gained a deeper appreciation of Pinggu’s industrial legacy as the “Hometown of Violins”.
The visit coincided with the peach blossom season, painting a picturesque spring scene. Through Pinggu’s latest developments, the diplomats gained a comprehensive understanding of the capital’s achievements in the new era. They said that through the visit, they had truly understood Beijing’s new changes and vitality in coordinated urban-rural development, rural revitalization, and green growth.
Vanessa Tsin-Jie Li, Ambassador of Suriname to China, said, “It is impressive to see how technology is used here to promote innovation-driven agricultural development. Agricultural cooperation with China is very important to Suriname, and Pinggu’s development has revealed greater opportunities for bilateral cooperation in this field.” Huub Buise, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Netherlands, also said that Pinggu District boasts a beautiful environment and is an important area for agricultural innovation and development, expressing the hope to promote deeper cooperation in the agricultural sector.
Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Vice President of the AIIB, was deeply impressed by Zixingyuan’s clean and quiet factory workshops and its strict and meticulous quality control process. He said, “Today we saw Pinggu’s modern agricultural technology and food manufacturing process, as well as its well-planned industrial parks and sound tourism facilities. Such development experience is worth sharing with other countries.”
Moving forward, the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office will continue to hold the “Foreign Diplomats Explore Beijing” series of events By building a communication and exchange platform between Beijing and diplomatic missions in China, the Office aims to expand practical cooperation in various fields, thereby serving Beijing’s high-quality development and high-standard opening up.
