Benin: Leveraging Special Economic Zones to Capture the Window of Opportunity for Structural Transformation: From the Lens of New Structural Economics

The Benin Project is the first country development project independently undertaken by the Department incorporating GIFF policy report and investment attraction services. In 2016, Professor Justin Yifu Lin visited Benin on the invitation of President Patrice Talon and signed the project agreement with the Minister of Finance  of Benin. The Department then visited Benin multiple times for in-depth field research and investment promotion. Under this project, the team helped the Benin government to promptly formulate and promulgate the Special Economic Zones Laws, improve the business environment in the zone, and explore financing channels to develop a sustainable business model for zone development. The goal is to overcome the binding constraints and eventually achieve economic transformation. In 2018, the SEZ-based development model made some solid achievements, successfully attracting anchor investors in manufacturing who confirmed their intent to invest and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for investment.

Nigeria: Leveraging Special Economic Zones to Capture the Window of Opportunity for Structural Transformation: From the Lens of New Structural Economics

In June 2016, Professor Justin Yifu Lin visited Nigeria on the invitation of the Nigerian Government and signed a project cooperation agreement with the Minister of Industry. The Department carried out in-depth field investigation while in Nigeria, and provided policy recommendations for the Nigerian government, including economic assessment, diagnosis and evaluation of SEZs, investment attraction and more. At the beginning of 2018,senior representatives of the Nigerian government visited China to study the development experience of China's textile industry. Additionally, they successfully established cooperative relations with China's leading textile and apparel group with the help of the project team. The Nigerian Government, China's manufacturing investors and the INSE formed a close tripartite cooperation framework to jointly promote the landing of investment projects.

Uzbekistan: Operationalizing the Use of Industrial Parks to Set Up Footwear Cluster

The Uzbekistan project is the first country development project in Central Asia undertaken by the INSE. The project consists of three modules: benchmark case study of China's footwear clusters, industrial park policy guide, and investment promotion casebook. In November 2018, the chairwoman of the Board ofDirectors of the Joint- Stock Commercial Aloqabank of Uzbekistan visited Peking University and signed a cooperation agreement with Professor Justin Yifu Lin. In March 2019, the Department led the Aloqabank delegation to visit Dongguan,  Jinjiang and Chengdu and thoroughly studied the development experience of China's footwear cluster. Following the visit, the Department offered some practical policy advice and connected with potential investors after an in- depth study of Uzbekistan. In  the future, the Department will organize investment promotion visits to facilitate  FDI in Uzbekistan and achieve mutual benefits. The Department also plans to invite relevant stakeholders, including investors, SEZ experts, as well as representatives of international organizations and governments to attend seminars on policy recommendation in Tashkent. The goal is to create multilateral cooperation opportunities for Uzbekistan to overcome binding constraints as soon as possible, attract investments on footwear industry, and make concerted efforts to develop local cluster.

Bangladesh: Monitoring and Evaluation of Special Economic Zones, supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Office for South- South Cooperation (UNOSSC)

Overcoming gaps by creating a normalized, cross-country data set that is collected on an ongoing basis and incorporates both quantitative and qualitative data. The project is designed to collect micro data on SEZs, legal regulatory information, policy incentives, infrastructure as well as management-related data. This approach is expected to deliver actionable insights to help policymakers and other stakeholders to make decisions and investments that maximize their benefits, including structural transformation and the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals. The M&E framework is being developed through country pilots in collaboration with local institutions in partner countries. In 2018, the INSE cooperated with the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies to investigate the potential of Bangladesh’s new SEZ program for inclusion into the M&E pilot program. The joint research team conducted a scoping study in August 2018, with the support of the UNDP and the UNOSSC under the “South-South Global Thinkers - the Global Coalition of Think Tank Networks for South- South Cooperation” initiative. The resulting “Report on the Potential for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Special Economic Zones in Bangladesh” was published in March 2019. It provides a comparative analysis of the development processes and policy frameworks of SEZ programs in neighboring countries along with policy recommendations.

Senegal: Development Experience of Special Economic Zones, supported by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

From July 8 to 14, 2018, invited by the Ministry of Agriculture of China and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Jia Yu, Director of the Department of International Development Cooperation, had a week-long in-depth exchange in Senegal with representatives from relevant government departments of Senegal, the World Bank and International Capital Corporation Limited. The exchange focused on China-Senegal agricultural cooperation, agricultural products processing, industrial zones, and the construction of Special Economic Zones, followed by field visits to agricultural rice and peanuts demonstration areas. Additionally, Dr. Jia Yu also visited the Diamniadio Industrial Zone, and held talks with the Premier's Office, the Ministry of Industry and the Industrial Zone Management Company. Discussions focused on the country’s new SEZ program and the possibility for Senegal to join the INSE’s project for Monitoring and Evaluation of Special Economic Zones supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, thus paving the way for further collaboration.

Senegal: Senegal's groundnut value chain research, supported by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Based on the peanut trade and agricultural technical aid between China and Senegal, the project aims to further promote the development of peanut processing and agricultural industry in Senegal by understanding the policy background, industrial advantages and development trend of China and Senegal. The research will explore the improvement of added value of peanut industry in Senegal and the cooperation in industrial parks of China and Senegal.

Kaduna, Nigeria: New Structural Economics helps revitalize leather and textile industries

The project is a country consulting project commissioned by the government of Kaduna State. With the vigorous promotion of H.E.Mallam Nasir El-Rufai，the governor of Kaduna State, Kaduna State and INSE signed a cooperation agreement in October 2019, aiming to promote the rapid development in the cotton/textile/garment and leather and shoemaking industries, create employment and foreign exchange, and realize early industrialization.

South-South Global Thinkers- A Global Coalition of Think Tank Networks for SSC, supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Office for South- South Cooperation (UNOSSC)

This project includes two studies, titled “SSC in technology and digital transformation under the BRI” and “How to harness China-Africa cooperation in Post COVID-19 recovery for the development of Africa’s pharmaceutical industry”, respectively. The expected result of the former is an in-depth report on the existing cooperation between China and other countries in the Global South on setting up science and technology parks (STPs), which may serve as the cornerstone for strengthening South-South Cooperation in scaling up technological transfer and innovations, reducing the digital divide and accelerating digital transformation. The result of the latter project is also a research report that aims to provide policy recommendations for African countries on: (1) how to create the right conditions and successfully attract industrial transfers from China in the pharmaceutical sector; (2) how to negotiate with China and Chinese partners to make sure that the economic relationship does not just repeat the usual patterns of dependency and poor terms of trade, but truly contributes to building local manufacturing and ultimately R&D capacities. 

Introduction to "Research on the Current Status, Trends, and Innovative Mechanisms of Trilateral Cooperation among China, Europe, and Africa"

This research project is a commissioned by the African Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PRC, aiming to explore new mechanisms for deepening cooperation among China, Europe, and Africa in the context of the rise of the Global South, particularly under the increasingly intense strategic competition between China and the United States, and the reshaping of the global economic geography during US President Donald Trump's second term. The research will systematically review the existing achievements of trilateral cooperation among China, Europe, and Africa, summarize the forms, scale, and development status of current trilateral cooperation, and utilize the theoretical tools of New Structural Economics to analyze the comparative advantages of each party and the potential for future deepened cooperation. The study strives to provide new ideas and recommendations for forging new paths in trilateral cooperation models and elevating the tripartite cooperation to a higher level.

Djibouti, Benin and Tanzania: The Role of Light Industrial Cluster in Promoting Economic Structural Transformation, supported by Huajian Group

This project mainly aims to guide relevant enterprises to invest and build industrial parks and clusters with the shoe industry at the core in potential target countries, based on the theory of New Structural Economics and the accumulated practice experience in the past. By identifying local comparative advantages and bottlenecks, making a systematic assessment of the soft and hard local conditions, we assist relevant companies to make the most appropriate investment decisions and promote the implementation of projects, thus helping the target countries achieve economic structural transformation and poverty reduction.

Ministry of Finance: Strategic Research on China's Financial and Economic Exchanges and Cooperation with Developing Countries under New Circumstances

Against the backdrop of the U.S.-China trade conflict and the reshaping of global trade chains, China's trade cooperation with developing countries has grown increasingly robust, making it the largest trading partner for many developing nations in recent years. Faced with diverse cooperation demands from these countries, this project will be guided by the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Under the new era's context and incorporating the latest theoretical advancements, it will explore how China can better engage in cooperation with developing countries.

A Study on the Effectiveness of China's Sovereign Financing in Africa

The report "A Study on the Effectiveness of China's Sovereign Financing in Africa" conducted case studies and empirical analysis to estimate the impacts of the Chinese loans. The analysis showed that China's financing in Africa contributed to economic growth, social welfare, and increased export and foreign exchange income to African nations, improving debt repayment. The empirical analysis coincides with the positive impacts of the case studies. The study figured out that the policy impact of China's loans is in line with existing policy frameworks, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and the national development plans of the borrowing nations in Africa.