A roundtable discussion was held on Dec 29 in Guangzhou to discuss new development opportunities for the city in the wake of the recent signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP.

It was the first RCEP-themed conference organized by a regional government in China after the accord was signed on Nov 15.

Among the nearly 200 guests who attended the roundtable discussion were domestic governmental officials, envoys from the consulates general in Guangzhou of the countries which signed the RCEP, as well as representatives of business associations and business leaders.

A roundtable discussion is held in Guangzhou on Dec 29. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Guangzhou has been consolidating its status as an international business center and developing itself as an international commercial center, said Hu Hong, deputy mayor of Guangzhou.

Hu added that the signing of the RCEP would certainly provide greater opportunities for the city to forge a new pattern of development and give unlimited options for Guangzhou and RCEP countries to promote investment and further open up their markets to each other.

Lyu Kejian, former director of the Asian Division of the Ministry of Commerce, expressed his hope that Guangzhou -- as one of the core cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area -- would make supply and demand, input and output, as well as logistics between countries in the RCEP region more efficient and convenient by relying on the large domestic market.

According to Cambodian ambassador to China Khek Caimealy Sysoda and Indonesian ambassador Djauhari Oratmangun, RCEP will open a new chapter of regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

They also expressed their appreciation that Guangzhou hosted the event and said their hope was for deeper cooperation in the RCEP region in the social, economic and cultural fields.

Mao Yanhua, vice president of the Institute of Free Trade Zones at Sun Yat-sen University, delivers a speech. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

RCEP will provide strategic support for Guangzhou to follow its "Dual Circulation" development -- in which Chinese and foreign markets complement and reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay. That's according to Tansri Ong Tee Keat, president of the Centre for New Inclusive Asia in Malaysia and Mao Yanhua, vice president of the Institute of Free Trade Zones at Guangzhou's Sun Yat-sen University, speaking at the event.

They also noted that Guangzhou could make use of existing knowhow and infrastructure to build an intellectual property rights (IPR) service center to expand knowledge, interpret the law and for practical applications in the RCEP region.

Xu Yingzhuo, vice chairman of Guangdong Haid Group Co Ltd, said RCEP will reduce corporate operating costs and accelerate the region's economic transformation and upgrading, among other things.

In addition, a development report about how Guangzhou can build itself into an important hub city along the Belt and Road was released during the event.