On October 30, 2021, at the invitation of China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development, Prof. Tao Yitao attended the 87th International Forum on China Reform, cosponsored by China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development, Bank of China, China Daily, and China Public Diplomacy Association (CPDA), and delivered a speech. Prof. Tao is director of China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR) of Shenzhen University (SZU) and president of the Belt and Road Research Institute (Shenzhen) for International Cooperation and Development (BRRI).
Experts and scholars from relevant Chinese national ministries and commissions, more than 20 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions in China, foreign countries including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, USA, UK, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Norway, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Bank, Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS), and other international organizations attended, online or offline, this international forum cosponsored by China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development, Bank of China, China Daily, and CPDA.
President Tao Yitao delivered a speech at the theme forum under the title "Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Opening-Up Under China's Construction of a New Development Pattern". From five aspects, she illustrated the relationships between high-level opening-up, constructing a new development pattern, and deepening reform. First, the optimization of the economic structure and the formation of a healthy circular economy are the basis for implementing high-level opening-up. At the same time, the high-level opening-up strategy will further promote the optimization of the economic structure and the construction, formation and performance of a healthy circular economy characterized by domestic and international double circulation. Second, reform and opening-up are two mutually complementary aspects in the same process of China's social transformation. Opening-up is not only the demand of reform, but also an irreplaceable institutional force that pushes reform forward in depth today. Third, economic restructuring and the building of a modern industrial system are the foundation of the double circulation and an internal foundation for higher-level opening-up. Fourth, although the "export-oriented" economic development strategy is not always better than the "import substitution" economic development strategy, it does not necessarily mean that for some countries with export-oriented economy, as their industrialization level improves, "export substitution" will necessarily or must be replaced. An export-oriented economy can also be a strong manufacturing economy. Germany is a great case in point. Fifth, the process of implementing higher-level opening-up is essentially the process of developing from policy opening-up to institutional opening-up, from an export-oriented economy to an open economy, and deepening reform. The theme "Promoting and Deepening Reform Through High-Level Opening-Up" should be thoroughly explored. President Tao believed that in order to maintain the rise of China in the world for the long term, we must first embrace a world of common prosperity in China. China needs to find the minimum standard with which the world can accept the rise of China, and in the meantime find the highest level of consensus, domestically, on accepting the world, thereby creating a more favorable external environment for China's future development.
After the keynote speech, the forum held a dialog among the guest speakers. Prof. Tao further elaborated on the proposed issue: 1. China has not entered the development stage from the reform stage, and reform and deepening reform are still our important tasks today. The current problems that China encounters in social development can only be solved through reform. 2. More than 40 years have passed since the beginning of China's reform and opening-up, but today we still face the issues of idea renewal and reform. 3. A society can implement reform only if its government embraces reform in the first place. Reform is more difficult when a country is well-to-do than when it is impoverished. Prof. Tao remarkable elaboration during her speech and the dialog were well received and acknowledged by the audience, who unanimously agreed that her speech provided great ideas and inspirations for the topic of "Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Opening-Up Under China's Construction of a New Development Pattern".
Prof. Tao Yitao participates in the expert dialog
Prof. Tao Yitao takes a group photo with the keynote speakers of the forum
During the forum, Prof. Tao Yitao was interviewed on scene by multiple news agencies, including CCTV, Hainan TV, Hainan Daily, SSTV, Hainan Broadcasting Group, and China News Service.
Prof. Tao Yitao is being interviewed by media
