The 19th Europe-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair kicked off on Thursday in Chengdu, Sichuan province, drawing nearly 700 enterprises and institutions from more than 20 countries and regions.

Adam Dunnett, secretary-general of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said at the opening ceremony that 75 percent of surveyed European companies operating in China reported their production efficiency in the country to be higher than elsewhere in the world, while 94 percent believe the Chinese market is of vital importance to their supply chains.

Luis Rubio, president of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in China, said that his chamber brought 10 companies to the fair. Noting that Spain has many factories in the new energy sector, Rubio said he is highly optimistic about bilateral cooperation. "We have the market, and China has the technology—the potential for cooperation is huge," he added.

The fair features an opening ceremony and plenary session, thematic exchanges, industrial park tours, business matchmaking meetings, and investment promotion activities. Key fields include new energy and environmental protection, biomedicine, agricultural products, intelligent robotics, frontier technologies, vocational education and commercial legal services.

The annual fair has attracted over 14,000 Chinese and European companies since its inception, leading to more than 3,300 intended cooperation agreements, according to official data.

The Business & Innovation Center for China-Europe Cooperation in Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone, the venue for the fair, serves as a national-level platform for cooperation with Europe and is home to 54 foreign-related projects.

The three-day event is jointly hosted by the China Chamber of International Commerce and the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.