Yin Hong, secretary of the CPC Gansu Provincial Committee and director of the Standing Committee of the Gansu Provincial People's Congress, and Ren Zhenhe, deputy secretary of the CPC Gansu Provincial Committee and Governor of Gansu Province, on Sept 23 met with foreign guests who participated in the 5th Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo and the 10th Dunhuang Tour-Silk Road International Tourism Festival  (hereinafter referred to as the Expo and Festival) , which opened in Dunhuang, Northwest China's Gansu province, on Sept 24.

Yin welcomed the guests and introduced the basic conditions of the province on behalf of the CPC Gansu Provincial Committee and the Provincial Government. 

He said the Expo and Festival are international events of great influence held in China. With "Symphony Silk Road, Cultural Expo for All" as their theme, this year's events aim to promote the Silk Road Spirit - "peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit", and boost exchanges and cooperation for countries and regions along the Belt and Road. The events are being held in onsite and virtual form.

Yin added that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the biggest opportunity Gansu has to seize and is also a development opportunity for all countries and regions along the Belt and Road. In the eight years since the BRI was put forward, Gansu has given full play to its advantages as a channel and a hub, and continuously deepened exchanges and cooperation with all regions along the Silk Road. An all-around open development pattern is accelerating its formation in the province.

Relying on the joint construction of the Belt and Road, Gansu will unswervingly expand its opening up efforts, continue to deepen exchanges and cooperation with friendly countries and regions, strive for mutual benefit and win-win results at a higher level, and promote the construction of Belt and Road to achieve more fruitful results, Yin said.

Guest representative Arthayudh Srisamoot, Thailand Ambassador to China, thanked the CPC Gansu Provincial Committee and the Gansu Provincial Government for their invitation and said more efforts will be made to strengthen in-depth cooperation in various fields under the BRI and to achieve common prosperity and development for countries and regions along the Belt and Road.

Representatives of South Korea, Japan, and Zimbabwe in China, representatives of several international organizations, and officials from several Chinese provinces attended the meeting.