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A bird"s eye view of Nantong. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Li Ling, vice-mayor of Nantong in East China"s Jiangsu province, met with a delegation from the Japan Asian Community Culture Cooperation Organization on Aug 4.

The two sides discussed furthering cultural and trade exchanges and expanding cooperation.

After outlining Nantong"s economic and social development, Mayor Li said that with the implementation of national strategies such as Yangtze River Delta region integration, Nantong is faced with a golden development opportunity with advantages in location, resource, and cost.

She noted that Japan is one of Nantong"s most important trade partners and hopes that both sides will strengthen exchanges and explore cooperation in more fields.

Komatsu Michihiko from the Japanese organization said that Nantong is a dynamic city and boasts a huge development potential.

He added that the Japan Asian Community Culture Cooperation Organization will give full play to its role as a non-governmental organization to promote cooperation between Nantong and Japan.

Founded in 2019, the Japan Asian Community Culture Cooperation Organization is the most influential non-governmental organization in Japan and is dedicated to advancing cultural exchanges between Japan and Asian countries, especially among youngsters.

Nantong has always valued its trade with Japan which is the city"s second largest foreign direct investment source and fourth largest trade partner. Japanese businessmen had built more than 1,400 companies in Nantong as of the end of 2022 and currently 611 Japan-invested companies are operating in the city, accounting for 12.4 percent of its foreign-invested companies.