January 16, 2022, Shenzhen Futian Fshion Investment Forum 2023 hosted by Shenzhen Municipal Futian District People’s Government was successfully held at Shangri-La Hotel in Paris.

This is the first time that the Shenzhen authorities has held an international event in Paris after three years of the outbreak of COVID-19.

Top fashion authority, French government agencies, international luxury groups, and international fashion media took part in the Forum, prepared by IFSC (International Fashion Strategy Committee of Shenzhen Municipal Futian District People’s Government). The event was supported by Business France, Chinese Embassy in France, business district Paris La Défense, Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM), GBD Innovation Club, Groupe Printemps, Leading enterprise of high-end women’s wear in China- EEKA Fashion Group, Who’s Next (WSN), and EnaMoMa Paris Fashion School by PSL.

Mr. Shen Xiang, Minister of the Chinese Embassy in France; Madam Hedva Ser, Ambassador of UNESCO Goodwill /Artist for Peace/Special Envoy for Cultural Diplomacy/Winner of the title of Knight of the French Legion of Honor; Mr. Nicolas Delarue, Head of Communication to Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode; Pascal Mourier, Famous fashion critic in Paris； and Mr.zhu Jiang, Deputy Mayor of Shenzhen Municipal Futian District People’s Government attended this event and gave keynote speeches. Almost 100 Paris entrepreneurs, guests representing businesses and fashion industry, and international media also joined this event to talked about innovative development and win-win cooperation with representatives of Shenzhen Futian District, the most active and innovative CBD in China.   

Mr. Shen Xiang, Minister of the Chinese Embassy in France，said in his speech: “We sincerely welcome Chinese and French enterprises to further strengthen personnel and business exchanges. The Chinese Embassy in France will actively implement the consensus of the two heads of state on bilateral relations and cooperation, continue to maintain close communication with the business community of China and France, facilitate the economic, trade and local cooperation between the two countries, and promote China-France relations to a new level. I hope that China and France will cooperate to provide more high-quality and creative fashion products to the world.”

Mr. Huang Wei, General Secretary of Shenzhen Municipal Futian District Committee & Chairman of IFSC, said that Futian District focuses on building “the Central Innovation Zone, the Central Business District and the Central Vitality Zone”. The construction of the central vitality zone will focus on the fashion industry and hopes to actively introduce international high-end brands, carry out in-depth cooperation with famous international fashion institutions, continuously improve the international competitiveness and influence of Futian fashion brands, and make Futian District into an international fashion consumption center.

Mr.Nicolas Delarue, Head of Communication to Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, said: “We hope to strengthen the communication between China and France in the field of fashion, so that Chinese fashion will bloom in Paris, and French fashion will continue to flourish in China.”

Mr.zhu Jiang, Deputy Mayor of Shenzhen Municipal Futian District People’s Government，in his speech he showed the beautiful business environment of Futian District and released a series of supporting policies formulated by Futian District to fully develop the fashion industry, which greatly attracted the French fashion industry and brand representatives present.

Madam Hedva Ser, Ambassador of UNESCO Goodwill, in her speech she warmly praised  Futian District of Shenzhen for its great importance to culture, shared the UNESCO cultural diplomacy project “Tree of Peace”, and expressed the hope that the “Tree of Peace” would be displayed in Futian District of Shenzhen and jointly promote world peace.

Pascal Mourier, a fashion critic in Paris, in the keynote speech mentioned that “…the fashion industry is facing innovation, and we must meet challenges. Taking artificial intelligence as an example, how to innovate in design, production and sales is an important topic in the future.”

In order to show the international image of Futian District to France and the world, this event was moderated and guided by Mr. Julien Gaudfroy, an International Moderator, Sino-French cultural envoy, and Chinese Ambassador.

During the Forum, several round tables were held. Various speakers all representing urban, sport and fashion fields spoke about topics related to vitality code of fashion global business distrcit and new trends in the development of international fashion industry.

The signing ceremony of international fashion cooperation was held at the event site. WHO’s Next, an international fashion authority from the largest fashion exhibition in Europe and known as the “laboratory of international fashion trends”, decided to cooperate with Futian District in all aspects of the fashion industry, from the upstream and downstream supply chain of products, designers, to brands, international fashion trend information, brand international promotion, etc.

Futian District in Shenzhen is actively building an international fashion city and invites French enterprises and international institutions to settle in its area, and work together to create a brighter future of the international fashion industry with unlimited imagination.