A business summit held recently in the Qingdao West Coast New Area, Shandong province, served as a platform for both the city and China to further boost economic growth and partnerships with East Asia countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, experts said during the event.

The East Asia Business Leaders Summit - held as part of the East Asia Marine Cooperation Platform Huangdao Forum on Sept 7 - covered issues related to international cooperation and economic development within the East Asia region. More than 400 participants, including leaders and experts from around the world, attended.  

Yan Xijun, vice-mayor of Qingdao, said that as a key hub of the country's Belt and Road Initiative, the city has established friendly ties with more than 20 cities in countries including Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

"The city has made great achievements in such areas as opening-up, port trade and marine scientific research," Yan said.

Zhang Jun, dean of the school of economics at Fudan University, said during the summit that many big cities in China were boosting economic growth and structural transformation by using the opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative.

"Those cities have huge potential in driving economic growth due to their capital and human resources," Zhang said.

Lu Peng, chairman of China Railway 17th Bureau Group, said the Belt and Road Initiative had created good opportunities for the "going abroad" of local enterprises.

"Enterprises that can come up with solutions in planning, designing, financing, investment and operations will be the winners," he said.

Yao Yang, dean of Peking University's National School of Development, said China had played a prominent role in globalization and has benefited significantly from free trade over the past few decades. Yao suggested that the country should further open up its markets and reduce tariff barriers to benefit domestic consumers.

In addition to the keynote speeches, the summit also included a high-level dialogue and an awards ceremony.

Officials shared opinions in the dialogue, which focused on the restoration of the real economy in the global context. The real economy plays a major role in the country's progress and prosperity, and it dominates the development of China's economy, they said.

As promoting the real economy is a key aspect in the country's supply-side structural reform plans, the participants reached a consensus that strengthening technological innovation and core competitiveness would support the real economy and reforms. During the summit, Yan gave awards to 18 experts involved in the East Asia Marine Cooperation Platform for their contribution to its creation.