The seventh session of the 13th Hubei Provincial People's Congress opened in Wuhan, capital city of Hubei Province, on January 20, 2022, with the attendance of 14 foreign guests from 8 countries.

Here are some of interviews from the foreign guests who spoke highly of Hubei's economic and social development in 2021.

1. Saeki Takehiko, Chief of the Japan External Trade Organization's Wuhan office

Saeki Takehiko has attended the Hubei Provincial People's Congress for three times. This year, he was impressed at the words of carbon neutrality, big health and new energy vehicles in the government work report.

"It is mentioned in the report that in the past year, Hubei saw 4,100 newly-added high-tech enterprises, reaching 14,500 in total. Industries such as optical communication, chips, news display screens, smart terminals and the internet, automobile manufacturing and services, big health, and high-end equipment manufacturing have pushed towards the trillion levels," Saeki Takehiko said.

He added that most of the Japanese companies in Hubei are engaged in the automotive industry. With the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (RCEP), Japanese companies seek to build good relations with Hubei, and make contributions to the transformation and upgrading of the automotive industry.

"Hubei enjoys a bright prospect in the field of smart cars," Saeki Takehiko noted.

2. Jeff Laing, Principal of Wuhan Maple Leaf Foreign Nationals School

Jeff Laing, hailing from Canada, has lived in Hubei for 11 years. His biggest impression is that more foreigners have settled in Wuhan.

He introduced that the school's enrollment has doubled in two years, attracting more than 70 foreign students from 15 countries.

Jeff Laing expects to provide educational services for more foreign families in Hubei and cultivate international talents. It is hoped that further educational cooperation will be carried out in Wuhan City Circle and between the provinces.

3. Travis Nuveen, Director of Business Technology Department of Wuhan Zhongyuan Ruide Biological Products Co., Ltd.

“If there is one word I could use to describe the year 2021 in Hubei, that would be ‘revitalization’,” Travis said.

He feels amazed that Hubei’s economic construction, scientific and technological development, people's livelihood have advanced side by side. He expects for the province's actions in the next year, according to the expected goals of economic and social development in 2022 in the government work report.

"I am most concerned about the field of biomedicine, which has become one of the fastest-growing industrial clusters in Hubei," Travis said, adding that Hubei has introduced first-class biomedical enterprises at home and abroad such as Pfizer, United Imaging and Mindray. The company seeks to integrate into the big health industry cluster in Hubei for strategic cooperation.

（en.hubei.gov.cn by Zhang Yawei）