Xinhua Silk Road: Global South financiers visit E. China's Ningbo to explore industrial and cultural innovation

BEIJING, April 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A delegation of government officials, financial executives and business leaders attending the 2026 Global South Financiers Forum recently visited Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, touring the city's advanced technology facilities and intangible cultural heritage sites.

The group's first stop was the National Graphene Innovation Center, a key research hub for China's strategic new materials sector. Staff members there introduced the latest applications of graphene technology across energy efficiency, healthcare and industrial equipment.

A graphene-enhanced cooling vest designed to reduce heat stress for outdoor and factory workers drew particular attention, with delegates stopping to examine it closely.

"This is what technology should look like, not just data in a laboratory, but something that genuinely improves the working conditions of ordinary people," said Luis René Fernández Tabío, a professor at the University of Havana.

Carlos Huerta, director of the Nogales Industrial Park in Mexico, said the visit gave him a new understanding of Ningbo's capabilities. "I had not expected Ningbo to have advanced this far in new materials. This opens up real possibilities for deeper cooperation between our two countries in this sector," he said.

The delegation also visited the Red Peony International Home. Participants painted peony motifs using traditional brush techniques, a process many found meditative.

"A flower has many layers, just like a culture," said Luz María García, executive director of the Chilean Technology Information Association. "The process slowed me down. I think that is what you call 'craftsman spirit.'"

At a local artisan village in Zhenhai District, delegates made Ningbo's traditional glutinous rice dumplings and tried bamboo weaving alongside local craftspeople. They then visited the Ningbobang Museum, which chronicles the city's history as a major port since ancient times and the rise of the globally influential "Ningbo merchant" community.

"The way they went out into the world back then shares much in common with what we discuss today about Global South cooperation, building connections on the basis of trust," Tabío said.

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