On 24th June, China-Ireland Trade and Investment Forum held in Dublin. Ms. Gao Yan, chairperson of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) addressed the forum. Ambassador He Xiangdong, Mr. Pat Breen, Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Mr. Enda Kenny, former Irish Prime Minister, Ms. Caroline Devlin, ICBA Chairperson also attended and addressed on the Forum.

Ambassador He said that in the past four decades, great progress has been made in China-Ireland relations, with both sides committed to the principals of mutual respect and reciprocal benefit. China-Ireland relations has become a model of friendship and win-win corporation between countries. Particularly, since the establishment of China-Ireland Strategic Partnership for Mutually Beneficial Cooperation in 2012, the bilateral relations have been developing more rapidly. He believes this forum will create more opportunities for bilateral trade and investment and further enhance mutual understanding and trust between our two countries.

Madam Gao Yan, Chairperson of CCPIT said that Ireland is a sincere friend of China in the EU. The tradition of friendship between the two countries has a long history. CCPIT has attached great importance to Sino-Irish economic and trade cooperation and hopes to build a platform for exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and Irish enterprises to further consolidate the foundation of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Mr. Pat Breen, Mr. Enda Kenny and Ms. Caroline Devlin commented highly on bilateral relations between China and Ireland and expressed their willingness to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with China.

The Forum was attended by over 150 people from different companies as well as officials from different government agencies and business associations. During the Forum, CCPIT and ICBA signed MOU for cooperation.

CCPIT, founded in 1952, is a major national foreign trade and investment promotion agency in China.