Entrepreneurs from SCO member countries share their views on digitalization. [Photo/ liangjiang.gov.cn]

The Trade and Economic Multifunctional Platform Development Forum for Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Members was held in Liangjiang New Area, Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, on Aug 23.

At the roundtable forum of the event, entrepreneurs from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and other SCO member countries discussed the "brand-new trade ecosystem of SCO members in the digital era".

Designed to activate new factors of digitalization, discover new drivers of the economy, cultivate new types of economy, and accelerate the digital transformation of traditional industries, the forum is aimed at achieving high-quality and sustainable development.

Song Zhigang, vice president of Inspur Co, presided over the forum. He highlighted SCO as an active participator of the Belt and Road Initiative. More and more firms expressed a hope to expand and deepen collaboration and establish new cooperation models using the trade and economic multifunctional platform of SCO.

One representative from a Kazakhstan-based investment group said that SCO now plays a leading role in trade, with its members complementing each other's strengths. Trade between China and Kazakhstan has surged and the trading structure has been further optimized.

Cdindustry Inc is a Liangjiang-based company that has been working to integrate into the global market. More than 10 SCO member countries are now included in its industrial layout.

Chongqing's exchanges with SCO members are intensifying. In the first half of 2021 alone, its exports to Kazakhstan exceeded 900 million yuan ($135 million), a year-on-year increase of 351 percent. From January to May this year, Chongqing’s exports and imports with Russia stood at 4.57 billion yuan.