Supporting the Belt and Road Initiative with

the Theory, Plan and Opportunities from China

 

Over 400 representatives from the Belt and Road countries’ embassies in China, international organizations, the Chinese governments, academia, industries and financial institutions attended the Symposium on Structural Transformation and Upgrading for the World Economy:Theory, Plan and Opportunities from China (“the Symposium” here after), organized by the Center for New Structural Economics at Peking University (“the Center” here after) on May 9, 2017.

 

 

The Symposium on 9 May

The 2016 G20 Hangzhou Summit has contributed the inspiring “Hangzhou Plan” to the world. The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, ongoing from May 14-15 in Beijing, has drawn the world’s attention again to China.

 

Held on the eve of this historic moment, the Symposium is instrumental to building the consensus among participating representatives on promoting mutual development and strengthening connectivity through production capacity cooperation, and establishing a platform for exploring the mechanism ofwin-win cooperation. Meanwhile, the Symposium witnessed the consistent endeavors that the Center has made in practicing the motto of “knowing and achieving being one” and in striving to bridge research with practice to promote economic structural transformation for the Belt and Road countries.

 

 

Prof. Yong Wang, Academic Deputy Director of CNSE  and the Moderator of the morning sessions

The Symposium was divided into two sessions—the theory session featured the theoretical innovation of New Structural Economics and the plan and opportunities China provided to global economic structural transformation; the practice session featured the experience sharing and brainstorming in building a new open economic system and in implementing the strategies of “going global”.

 

 Professor Justin Yifu Lin, Director of the Center for New Structural Economics

In the theory session, Professor Justin Yifu Lin, Director of the Center, delivered a keynote speech highlighting the theoretical development of New Structural Economics and how New Structural Economics could contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative. He pointed out that the advantages that China enjoys in infrastructure construction and financial capability, and the complementary nature of its economy to other economies provided the Belt and Road countries with tremendous opportunities. More importantly, China’s experience in finding a development path that best suits its economic development can help the Belt and Road countries seize these opportunities.

 

 

 

Professor Yi Wen delivered the keynote speech

Professor Yi Wen, Visiting Professor at the Department of Economics, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, delivered a keynote speech entitled “The Great Industrial Revolution and China’s Confidence” to reflect on contemporary economic theories and unravel the magic of China’s stunning economic development since the late 1970s.

 

Dr. Caihui Fu, Research Fellow of the Center for New Structural Economics

Dr. Caihui Fu, Research Fellow of the Center, launched the Report on Global Economic Structural Transformation and Industrial Upgrading: The Path of New Structural EconomicsV1.0, the first flagship report of New Structural Economics. The ten-chaptered report, scheduled to be published in July, systematically applies the thoughts, theories and methodologies of New Structural Economics to analyze and evaluate the trajectories of the structural changes of major economies.

 

Discussion in practice session (domestic)

In the practice session, Zhenghong Chen, Division Chief of the Policy Research Department, Ministry of Commerce of P.R.China; Qinghui Huang, Deputy Mayor of Dongguan, Guangdong Province; Congjie Shu, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee of Tacheng, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; Yuchang Wang, Deputy Director General, Jinan Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Shandong Province; and Chunhao Zhang, Deputy Mayor of Hejian, Hebei Province; interpreted Opinions on Building a New Open Economic System, released by the State Council and shared how local governments implemented development strategies by applying the tenets of New Structural Economics.

 

Dr.Jiajun Xu, Executive Deputy Director of CNSE, moderated the International discussion

Discussion in the practice session (international)

Jie Zhang, Vice Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Light Industrial Products and Arts Crafts; H.E. Ambassador Simon Pierre Adovelande, Ambassador of Benin to China; H.E. Ambassador Seyoum Mesfin, Ambassador of Ethiopia to China; H.E. Ambassador Abdallah Abdillahi Miguil, Ambassador of Djibouti to China; Kevin Chen, Senior Research Fellow and China Program Leader, International Food Policy Research Institute; Patrick Haverman, Deputy Country Director, United Nations Development Programme; Rui Hao, Deputy General Manager, Research and Development Department, China-Africa Development Fund; introduced the progress made in their respective countries and industries, linked the Belt and Road Initiative with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and expressed their wishes in promoting mutual development by taking advantage of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Students from Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development