New Australian consulate to open

Australia will soon open a consulate in Chengdu, its fourth in China, Xinhua News Agency reported on April 16, quoting Australian Ambassador to China Frances Adamson. The capital of Sichuan province will be the only non-coastal city in China to have an Australian consulate. The others are in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. "The consulate-general in Chengdu will provide a direct link to a diverse province," Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.

Investment touted as private firms gather

A two-day symposium between large privately owned firms from Sichuan and other parts of China opened in Chengdu on April 15. It attracted more than 100 executives from the private sector including noted figures such as BYD President Wang Chuanfu and Zhang Jindong, president of Suning Group. Sichuan summarized 1,999 investment and cooperation projects at the symposium valued at 4.28 trillion yuan.

Tourist numbers surge for Qingming

Chengdu received more than 4.82 million visitors during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday at the beginning of April, up 17.5 percent over the same period last year. The city's total tourist income rose by 23.1 percent to 1.98 billion yuan during the holiday.

City has 500 mobile Internet companies

Chengdu now has 500 enterprises and 20,000 employees in the mobile Internet industry, according to a human resource report released by the Mobile Internet Society on April 10. Half of the enterprises were established during the past three years, said the report, the first of its kind in China. It was based on questionnaires sent to 500 employees at 40 enterprises in Chengdu's mobile Internet industry.

Annual fest to honor historic Dujiangyan

The 2013 China Dujiangyan Qingming Water Releasing Festival, together with the first Source of Tianfu Water Culture Tourism Festival, kicked off in Chengdu's Dujiangyan on April 4. The festival is centered around a ceremony dating back 1,000 years that celebrates the completion of the Dujiangyan irrigation system and commemorates its designer Li Bing.

China Daily

(China Daily 04/26/2013 page19)