Held six times since 2008, the summit promotes cooperation on ecological conservation, green investment and sustainable development between government departments, business communities and international organizations.

 

       With the theme "Building a Beautiful China, Forging a Green Silk Road," this year's event brought together about 500 participants from 16 countries to exchange ideas on balancing economic growth with environmental protection and achieving sustainability.

 

       Daniella Martinez, president of Foreign Relations Commissions of Chamber of Commerce, Service and Tourism of Mexico, said at the opening of the summit that sustainability must be understood as a strategy involving overlapping concerns – environmental, labor, energy, social, geopolitical, which affect both community and society.

 

       She added that the Belt and Road Initiative is based on sustainability, with pollution reduction, poverty alleviation and the prevention of main financial risks as its main objectives.

 

       Fan Peikang, director of the Comprehensive Department of China Chamber of International Commerce, said that this year' summit is located in Ningxia because it is a key stop along the Silk Road Economic Belt, and its ecology-based development strategy echoes the theme well.

 

       According to Wang Heshan, deputy chairman of Ningxia Hui autonomous region, in the first three quarters of this year, Ningxia's GDP rose 7 percent year-on-year, the second fastest among China's northwestern provincial-level administrative divisions.

 

       While maintaining steady economic growth, he said the region is committed to pursuing green development and striving to become a pacesetter in advancing ecological progress in northwest China.

 

       Recent years have witnessed continuous increases in forest resources and significant reductions in desertification and soil erosion in Ningxia, Wang added.

 

       José Ricardo, CEO of LIDE China, a China-Brazil business platform, told China.org.cn that Ningxia offers great business opportunities in tourism and agriculture, and his organization is willing to promote the cooperation between Chinese and Brazilian companies in these sectors.

 

       The summit featured three parallel meetings: the International Ecology and New Economy Forum, the 3rd China Agricultural Products Supply Chain Conference and the Green Investment and Financing Forum of Ningxia.

 

       The event was jointly organized by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, China Chamber of International Commerce, Committee of Population, Resources and Environment of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and National Forestry and Grassland Administration of China.