Guangzhou Ushers in New Era of Connectivity, Internationalization between Spain and China

- On September 26th, representatives from the Guangzhou Municipal Government and the Guangdong Airport Authority (GAA) will participate in a ceremony to handover the Flag of World Routes at Fira Gran Via, as this burgeoning aviation authority officially welcomes the world's biggest industry stakeholders to World Routes 2018 to be held in Guangzhou next year. "By bringing together this impressive roster of industry leaders and stakeholders we can engage in open, productive discussions about the future of the aviation industry-which is at the heart of Guangzhou's development initiatives and is a matter of global-reaching impact," said Diao Ailin, Deputy Secretary General of Guangzhou municipal government. "Guangzhou is at a turning point in our own aviation development as we become a steadily more international transportation and logistics hub, and by hosting next year's World Routes conference we can continue to help foster sound, innovative growth and development that benefits stakeholders industry-wide." As part of these development efforts, Guangdong Province has sped up the formation of its "5+4" airport pattern, and the transport volume, cargo throughput, networks and industry economy surrounding the Baiyun Airport have continued to see substantial forward movement. The Baiyun Airport has also become the first portal hub for travel between China, Southeast Asia and Oceania, and its global and regional network continues to blossom to cover a growing expanse of Europe, the United States and beyond. Furthermore, the 116-square-kilometer Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone (GAEZ) aims to build the world's most advanced aviation maintenance industry cluster, and has initiated a number of major projects and developments including the FedEx Asia Pacific trans-shipment center. The GAEZ is working closely alongside large multinational enterprises and groups, including a number of Fortune Global 500 and renowned international companies like SIEMENS, United Technologies Company, Airbus and Vailog S.r.l. to support and foster their investment and on-going development in the region. "As China continues its opening up to the world, Spain is becoming an increasingly key partner to the city of Guangzhou, and this panel gave us a great opportunity to discuss key topics of mutual interest," said Diao Ailin, Deputy Secretary General of Guangzhou municipal government. By the end of July, Spain had set up 46 enterprises in the city of Guangzhou, achieving a 900 percent year-on-year growth of cumulative contractual foreign investment in the region, and actual foreign investment of USD $65.37million. Between January and July of 2017, the total export-import volume between Guangzhou and Spain reached $607million, with exports from Guangzhou to Spain growing 25.6 percent and imports from Spain growing more than 22 percent. "As we strive to build new bridges in the air, the World Routes to be held in Guangzhou serves as a way to build even more bridges between leaders and executives in Spain and Guangzhou," said Diao Ailin. Guangzhou Aviation Fast Facts From 2012 to 2016, annual take-offs and landings at the Baiyun Airport increased from 373,000 to 435,000.