The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Institute (CARECI) Beijing Reception & “The Belt and Road” New Economy Forms Development Forum was held in Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on June 21. This event was jointly organized by the Circulation Expert Committee of China Marketing Association and CARECI.
It is reported that the reception was specially held by the CARECI to extend its gratitude for the governmental support from various countries and the ministries and commissions of China. Director and President Tao Yitao was invited as a key guest to attend the event, among other 150 plus people including Zou Jiayi, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance (China), Sun Boya, Dean of CARECI, Liang Ziqian, First Deputy Director of CARECI, Wan Haichuan, Director of Xinjiang Provincial Department of Finance and a member of the Party Leadership Group of the People’s Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Ma Xuejun, a Member of the Standing Committee of Regional Party Committee and Executive Vice Chairman of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, foreign diplomatic envoys to China from the other ten CAREC countries (including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), and representatives of relevant ministries and commissions in China, international organizations, partners, colleges and universities and think tanks.
Prof. Tao Yitao attended the event as a strategic partner of the CARECI. She is the director of the China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR), Shenzhen University (SZU), president of the Belt and Road Research Institute of Shenzhen University and also president of the Belt and Road Research Institute (Shenzhen) for International Cooperation and Development (BRRIICD). Accompanying Prof. Tao were Yun Wenjie, Executive Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Belt & Road Studies issued by the CCSEZR, Xu Jianying, a distinguished professor of CCSEZR and Director of Xinjiang Research Office of China Institute of Frontier Research under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Zhong Qi, Assistant to President of the BRRIICD.
Group photo of the attendees
The Urumqi-headquartered CARECI is an international intergovernmental organization approved by the State Council (China) and supported by Chinese government, with an aim to promote regional economic cooperation among its member states through knowledge collaboration and sharing. Since its inception, CARECI has launched multiple key research projects and yielded fruitful results in boosting Central Asian regional economic integration, regional macroeconomic research, and regional key industry development research, and rendered intellectual support for the “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)”. Its member countries include 11 nations: China, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
It is learnt that CARECI began its virtual operation in 2009 and started physical operation in March 2015 following its unveiling in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, China. Since 2015, Shenzhen University has signed a cooperation agreement and worked in close partnership with CARECI. Prof. Tao attended this event on behalf of Shenzhen University on a mission to strengthen liaison with other member countries, fully bridge communications among regional cooperation colleges and bring into play the role as an intergovernmental organization, and make significant contributions to the implementation of the BRI”.
Prof. Tao presenting the reception
Zou Jiayi, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance of China, mentioned in her keynote speech that the establishment of the CARECI for promotion of regional economic cooperation reflected the unanimous aspirations of China and Central Asian countries. China laid great weight on central Asia regional cooperation, as well as CARECI operation and development. With headquarters located in Xinjiang, CARECI received vigorous support from the Central Government of China and the People’s Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The past several years have witnessed steady progress in the operation and institutional capacity building of CARECI. To further improve the work efficiency, Vice Minister Zou Jiayi proposed four suggestions for the future development of the CARECI: 1. To better serve the CAREC; 2. To expand partnerships; 3. To strengthen capacity building following international and high standards; 4. To deliver flagship products with unique characteristics of CARECI.
Vice Minister Zou Jiayi
Vice Minister Zou also stressed that CARECI couldn’t get where it is without the joint efforts of the member countries of CAREC. She expected continual incoming support from them towards the future development of the CARECI. She also hoped that the Asian Development Bank, as an integral partner of the CARECI that had made special contributions to its establishment and operation, will continue to provide financial and intellectual support for the CARECI development in the future. China, as the host country of the CARECI, will consistently provide support and services for the operation of the CARECI in China.
Dean Sun Boya said: “Becoming a leading knowledge hub for promoting the mutual and sustainable development of the Central Asian regional economy, so as to boost the Central Asian regional sharing and economic integration, is a strategic goal of the CARECI and also in alignment with the CAREC 2030 Agenda proposed by the Asian Development Bank.
Dean Sun Boya
“As one of the first countries to embrace and join China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’, Azerbaijan has already begun to reap the profits of the BRI in economic growth, and in particular the stimulative effect on the transportation, tourism and cultural exchanges.” said Akram Zeynolli, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to China. Given the unique intellectual support of CARECI in promoting regional cooperation, Azerbaijan will, in the future implementation of the “Belt and Road” projects, further attach importance to partnership with CARECI and capitalize on the advantage of CARECI as an international knowledge sharing platform, to better engage in the international cooperation initiatives including the BRI in both breadth and depth.
Mr. Archil Kalandia, Georgian Ambassador to China, said that Georgia had been Europe’s natural gateway to Asia since antiquity. At present, as China’s BRI expands in scope, building a Central Asian railway corridor that links China to Europe is of great significance. In this regard, Georgia is ready to work with China and other central Asian countries towards advancing completion of the railway corridor in central Asia at the earliest time possible. Meanwhile, Georgia will further strengthen cooperation with CARECI to continuously improve the abilities of government officials in formulating policies and participating in regional cooperation.
Mr. Asim Ali KhanBaloch, Pakistani Counsellor in China, said that the innovative research provided by the CARECI will provide an intellectual platform for promoting regional economic integration. CARECI’s flagship research result, the “Central Asia Regional Integration Index”, helps member countries monitor and track the progress of regional cooperation and integration. In view of the positive significance of this study, Mr. Asim Ali KhanBaloch hoped that the CARECI will continue to further research in this regard to make it a mature economic theory and analytical tool for promoting regional economic cooperation and strengthening trade ties.
Mr. Batir Tursunov, Minister Counselor of Uzbekistan in China, said that CARECI, as an open, fair and inclusive research institute, plays an active role in sustainable economic development. He hoped that CARECI can deliver more knowledge services to Uzbekistan and lend intellectual support in promoting economic corridor construction, green economy and smart agriculture, and tourism development. He also proposed that China and Ukraine hold an annual tourism forum.
Director Wan Haichuan and Executive Vice Chairman Ma Xuejun delivered a speech successively. They said that the cooperation with the CARECI brings a lot of benefits to Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia in information exchange, policy communication, and research and consultation. CARECI is an international knowledge platform that can be used by Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia to capitalize on the important historical opportunity of the BRI, and the unique geographical edges, resources and cultural advantages to constantly expand external collaboration and promote policy coordination, facility connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people bonds. In addition, Director Wan Haichuan indicated that in the future, he will continue to support CARECI in an all-round manner and join hands with central Asian countries to build a better CARECI.
According to Liang Ziqian, First Deputy Director of the CARECI, following the “One Belt, One Road” International Cooperation Summit and the Asian Civilization Dialogue Conference in April 2019, regional development, cultural exchanges and tourism in the Asian region has become essential areas that drive regional economic cooperation of the BRI. CARECI will launch a high-level event in Urumqi, Xinjiang in the second half of 2019 to promote the growth of regional tourism and the synergy between regional economic cooperation and BRI.
After the meeting, Prof. Tao had an affable conversation with the diplomatic envoys from various member countries and reached preliminary agreement on future cooperation.
Director and President Tao Yitao (left) and Dean Sun Boya (right)
Director and President Tao Yitao (right) and Deputy Director Liang Ziqian (left)
Prof. Tao Yitao with her party and Ms Сауле Нургалиева, Secretary of Kazakhstan Minister Counselor in China (left 2)
Director and President Tao Yitao (right 1), Mr. Asim Ali KhanBaloch, Pakistan Minister Counselor in China, and Doctor Yun Wenjie (left 1)
Director and President Tao Yitao (right 2), Doctor Yun Wenjie (right 1), Prof. Xu Jianying (left 2) and assistant Zhong Qi (left 1)
