On July 21, 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) held the 9th promotion event presenting Chinese provinces at the Blue Hall of the Ministry with the theme of “Open China: Magnificent Inner Mongolia Inviting Friends around the Globe”. Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered a speech and Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Li Jiheng and Chairperson of the Peoples’ Government of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Bu Xiaolin gave the presentation. Over 500 people including diplomatic envoys and representatives in China from over 130 countries and international organizations, senior diplomats, delegates from industrial and commercial sectors, Chinese and foreign experts and scholars, as well as journalists were present at the event.

Wang Yi expressed that 2017 is a memorable and important year for the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. 70 years ago, the first autonomous region governed by the ethnic groups of China was established in Inner Mongolia. For the past 70 years, all ethnic groups in Inner Mongolia have worked together with one heart and forged ahead, achieving tremendous outcomes in its prosperity and progress, and writing a splendid chapter of regional ethnic autonomy.

Wang Yi said that under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, Inner Mongolia is presenting a brand new and unprecedented image and refreshing the world’s cognition by its new “namecards” today. One of these “cards” is opening-up. In history, the “Ten-Thousand Li Tea Road” was the artery for the Asian-European trade. Today, the “Belt and Road” construction rejuvenates Inner Mongolia. The China-Europe Railway Express goes through here connecting the Europe, the China-Mongolia Expo stages here, and the pilot zone of China-Russia-Mongolia cooperation is under construction in Hulun Buir. These facts suggest that Inner Mongolia is striding toward the world with more vitality of opening-up, a larger scope and wider area. The other “namecard” is ecological construction. The Inner Mongolian people have spent decades in exploring a way for green development, actively carried out the Three-North shelter forest program, projects of returning farmland to forest and that of returning pasture to grassland. By doing so, Inner Mongolia has embarked on a road of balanced development between economy and environment, achieving win-win results of desertification control and poverty alleviation, which is a road of desertification control with Chinese characteristics and being spoken highly of by the United Nations and the international community. The 13th session of the conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the 6th Kubuqi International Desert Forum will be held in Ordos this September. All countries are welcomed to take part in these conferences. It is believed that Inner Mongolia will provide the international community with more and more Chinese solutions to desertification control and climate change.

Secretary Li Jiheng and Chairperson Bu Xiaolin stated that over the 70 years, Inner Mongolia has marched on unceasingly along the correct path of regional ethnic autonomy and made remarkable achievements, making it an important window for China’s opening up to the north and important hub of the “Belt and Road” construction. Inner Mongolia will comprehensively implement the requirement made by General Secretary Xi Jinping of helping each other and building a more beautiful northern border of China, further implement the concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development, and vigorously build a modernized Inner Mongolia. Meanwhile, it will also actively implement the opening-up strategy and further develop the friendly cooperative relations with all parts in the world.

Mongolian Ambassador to China Damba Gankhuyag, New Zealand Ambassador to China John Mckinnon, Italian Ambassador to China Ettore Francesco Sequi and Madagascan Ambassador to China Victor Sikonina delivered speeches successively, congratulating the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on its 70th anniversary of its founding and praising the economic development, social progression and ethnical harmony of Inner Mongolia for the past 70 years. They fully acknowledged the fruitful results and promising future of cooperation between Inner Mongolia and their own countries respectively, expressing their willingness of aligning their development strategies, tapping potential for cooperation and pushing forward mutually beneficial cooperation to new highs within the “Belt and Road” framework. All diplomatic envoys expressed that the promotion event was widely acclaimed by all diplomatic corps, and extended their gratitude to the MFA for providing a classic platform for them to learn about Chinese provinces, including Inner Mongolia. They are willing to make good use of this platform to strengthen cooperation with China.