On February 2, 2023, sponsored by the Chengdu Municipal People's Government, the Consular Reception 2023 was held in Chengdu. It is a long-term and institutional exchange platform for consular agencies in Chengdu and Chongqing. As of January this year, 23 countries have been approved to set up consulates general in Chengdu. 13 countries have been approved to set up consulates general in Chongqing, 10 of which include Chengdu in their consular district.

In recent years, Chengdu is striving to build itself into a modern international socialist metropolis with global influence and reputation in western China. It always insists on opening up to ease the difficulties of development, to unite the power of cooperation, to gather the momentum of innovation, and to seek the benefits of sharing. It is reported that in the past year, Chengdu achieved 834.6 billion yuan of foreign trade imports and exports with a year-on-year growth of 1.6%. Chengdu's GDP of the region has a record-breaking leap to 2 trillion yuan. International air cargo throughput and general trade increased by 46.3% and 36.3% respectively. Foreign direct investment increased by 11%, and the number of the Fortune Global 500 companies in Chengdu increased to 315.

During the Consular Reception 2023, the guests also reviewed the important exchanges and cooperation between Chengdu City and the consulates in 2022, and expressed their expectation for further cooperation in 2023.

"We are looking forward to continue our cooperation between Hungary and Sichuan," said Gergely Kádár, the Hungarian Consul General in Chongqing.

"Hungary's strengths lie in cars, healthcare and the green industry. So I hope to have further cooperation with China, Sichuan and Chengdu in the automobile industry, medical equipment, the life sciences, as well as the greenindustry." Currently, both Sichuan and Hungary are preparing for the 2023 World Power Battery Conference to be held in Yibin, Sichuan Province. Recently, a number of related companies, such as those of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) and NIO, have announced their investment projectsin Hungary. Through its investment project a Sichuan automotive industry company, a valued strategic partner of the Hungarian government, is also present in Hungary.In addition, a number of Hungarian medical small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) also value the development potential of Chengdu City.

Gergely Kádárexpressed that Hungary follows closelythe development of Chengdu-Chongqing region and hopes that Chengdu can resume the direct flights to Budapest in the second half of this year, and add another window for cooperation between Southwest China and Hungary, so as to effectively promote the political, economic trade and investmentrelations as well as people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

With great expectations, Takada Mari, the Consul General of Japan in Chongqing, also hopes to have more Sino-Japanese cultural exchange activities in Chengdu and Chongqing in the near future. For instance, they will hold a meeting room and tea ceremony performance in Chengdu high-tech zone, and plan to hold a seminar on the theme of "Comparison of Japanese and Chinese Architecture" in some universities in Chengdu.

"Chengdu is an inclusive and open city." Takada Mari said. She likes the comfortable environment and cultural vibe of Chengdu, and hopes there will be deeper exchanges and exploration between Chinese and Japanese cultures.