A delegation of government officials, financial executives, and business leaders participating in the 2026 Global South Financiers Forum recently visited Ningbo in the Zhejiang province of eastern China to explore the city’s advanced technological facilities and sites of intangible cultural heritage.
The group first visited the National Graphene Innovation Center, a strategic new material research center in China. Staff members presented the latest applications of graphene technology in areas such as energy efficiency, healthcare, and industrial equipment.
An innovative graphene-based cooling vest designed to reduce thermal stress for outdoor or factory workers particularly caught the delegation’s attention, leading them to examine it closely.
“This is how technology should be used: to produce something that actually improves the working conditions of ordinary people, not just data in a laboratory,” said Luis Rene Fernandez Tabo, a professor at the University of Havana.
Carlos Huerta, director of the Nogales Industrial Park in Mexico, shared that the visit helped him better understand Ningbo’s capabilities. “I did not expect Ningbo to have progressed so much in the new materials field. This opens up new possibilities for deepening cooperation between our two countries in this sector,” he added.
The delegation also visited the International Red Peony Home, where participants painted peony patterns using traditional brush techniques, an activity many found meditative.
“Just like a culture, a flower has many layers,” commented Luz Maria Garcia, general director of the Chilean Association of Technological Information. “This activity made me slow down. I think it aligns with the artisanal mindset.”
In a craft village in the Zhenhai district, delegates made traditional Ningbo glutinous rice dumplings and tried their hand at bamboo weaving alongside local artisans. They then visited the Ningbobang Museum, which showcases the city’s history as a major port since antiquity and the rise of the influential “Ningbo merchants” community worldwide.
