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SHANGQIU, China, Oct. 23, 2023 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/--

On October 23, 2023, the ninth day of the ninth month in Chinese lunar year,

the grand worship ceremony was held in Shangqiu City, Henan Province, China.

About 500 representatives of Chinese merchants from home and abroad gathered

together to worship Wang Hai, the ancestor of Chinese merchants, and promote

the spirit of Chinese merchants, which is characterized by upholding virtue and

benevolence, emphasizing business ethics, honesty and trustworthiness, and

seeking innovation and change, and express the determination of unity and

collaboration for the future, according to the Organizing Committee of the 9th

China Shangqiu International Chinese Merchants Festival.

The groundwork for this gathering was laid 4,000 years ago. At that time, there

was a tribe called "Shang" that was active in this area. The seventh leader of

the tribe, Wang Hai, was skilled in trade, and the tribe gradually prospered

and grew stronger. After several generations of accumulation, the Shang tribe

established the second dynasty in Chinese history, the Shang Dynasty. The deeds

of Wang Hai were engraved on oracle bones and passed down to later generations.

The Chinese people believe that Wang Hai pioneered commercial trade, so he is

revered as the "ancestor of merchants". Many Chinese characters related to

trade activities are also named with the Chinese character of "shang", such as

commerce (shangye), commodity (shangpin), and merchant (shangren). Therefore,

Shangqiu is considered the birthplace of the ancestor of merchants, the Shang

tribe, the Shang Dynasty, merchants, commodities, commerce, and merchant

culture, attracting many Chinese people to hold festivals and pay homage here.

This year marks the ninth edition.

Today, Shangqiu has developed transportation and is one of the few cities in

China that serves as a comprehensive transportation hub for both high-speed and

conventional railways, as well as a node city in the "Eight Verticals and Eight

Horizontals" high-speed railway network. Shangqiu currently has three

hundred-billion level industrial clusters in equipment manufacturing, textile

and apparel manufacturing, and food production, as well as eleven ten-billion

level industrial clusters in refrigeration, measuring tools, and superhard

materials. The city is vigorously developing emerging industries such as new

energy vehicles, new materials, electronic information, and biomedicine, and is

also planning for multiple future industries including life and health,

carbon-based new materials, hydrogen energy and storage, brain-inspired

intelligence, and metaverse. Shangqiu is committed to creating a first-class

business environment, constructing a gateway and hub for opening up to the

outside world, and building an important center for international land ports

and the Belt and Road Initiative. The city keeps upholding and promoting the

tradition of respecting, valuing, and supporting businesses.

Source: Organizing Committee of the 9th China Shangqiu International Chinese

Merchants Festival

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   Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=442771

   Caption: Global Chinese merchants worship their ancestor in Shangqiu, China.