On 18 March 2021, the Special 13th International Roundtable of Multinational Corporations’ Leaders opened in Beijing. Themed “An Open China and the World”, the conference was hosted by China International Council for the Promotion of Multinational Corporations and co-hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Global Compact and the University for Peace (UPEACE). Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), attended the opening ceremony upon invitation.

Mr. Shang fulin, Chairman of the Subcommittee of Economy of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) presided over the opening ceremony. Mr. Du Qinglin, member of the Secretariat of the 18th CPC Central Committee, attended the event and delivered opening remarks. Mr. Liu Liehong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in China, Mr. Yang Jinbai, Deputy Mayor of Beijing, delivered keynote speeches. Leaders of multinationals including Sanofi-Aventis, Louis Dreyfus, ThyssenKrupp, AstraZeneca, GE Healthcare, Bank of China and China UnionPay made remarks.

The meeting expressed that in the year of 2020, with COVID-19 ravaging all over the world, global public health was severely threatened and human beings went through unprecedented crises. The global epidemic prevention and control once again shows that the future of mankind and the interests of all countries are closely linked, and that the world is an indivisible community with a shared future. Openness and cooperation follow the trend of the times, and mutual benefits lie in the common aspiration. Seeking development in openness and achieving win-win results through cooperation is the only strategic choice for steady and long-term progress. Multinational corporations, as important hubs for global industrial chain, supply chain and value chain, should move reversely against the series of crises such as the pandemic, anti-globalization, trade protectionism and global economic recession, and contribute wisdom and strength to the global economic development through various ways. 

The credit card “Global Village Card” was released at the opening ceremony.