As the capital of the autonomous region, Hohhot is the closest provincial capital toBeijing, and located near the Bohai Bay economic belt, the city was the earliest border city to open-up to foreign countries, particularly Mongolia and Russia, and it is a key hub linking the northeast, north, and northwest China.

Railways connecting Hohhot with Zhangjiakou, Beijing and the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region are under construction, and they are expected to open a new chapter for the city's international trade and investment.

The Grasslands Silk Road International Communication and Cooperation Forum will not only meet the rising demand to boost the grasslands Silk Road economic belt, but also benefit the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's strategy to boost its economy.

Third, we aim to enhance the city's economic vigor.

As the political, cultural, economic, science and technology and financial center of the autonomous region, the city accounts for nearly 70 percent of the autonomous region's science, education, human and capital resources. The city's economy has been on an upward trend and the average growth rate of its GDP has been 18.3 percent in recent years. Its GDP reached 271 billion yuan ($44.4 billion) in 2013.

We want the forum to sustain that growth momentum, by coming up with new and innovative solutions that will take the grasslands Silk Road cooperation to a higher level. We want experts and scholars to contribute their ideas of ways to achieve this.

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