On November 19, a delegation of backbone teachers and counselors from Tianjin Normal University took part in the "Ideological and Political Work System Construction and Quality Improvement" training at Shenzhen University. At the invitation of Tianjin Normal University, Prof. Tao Yitao, director of the China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR), Shenzhen University and dean of the Belt and Road Research Institute (Shenzhen) for International Cooperation and Development delivered a lecture themed Successful Experience of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and Its Historical Contributions to China's Reform and Opening-up to the delegation during the training.
At the beginning of the lecture, Prof. Tao Yitao, by telling her own experiences, first introduced the development history of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone over 40 years of reform and opening-up in a humorous and funny way through simple and vivid stories. The historical changes of Shennan Boulevard, Chung Ying Street, International Trade Center and Shenzhen University have turned into lively stories from Prof. Tao Yitao lips, deeply attracting all participants present.
Prof. Tao Yitao mentioned that China's special economic zones typified by Shenzhen Special Economic Zone have injected the urgently needed vitality and vigor for China’s economy to recover and take-off and blazed a trail for the development of socialist market ecomomy with Chinese characteristics.
While explaining the China’s path, Prof. Tao stressed three important historical conferences, which she thought must be mentioned when it comes to China's reform and opening-up, namely, the Economic Work Conference held from November 10 to December 15, 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held from December 18 to 22, 1978 and the Moganshan Conference held in 1984. The first conference built up momentum for China's reform and opening-up; the second conference initiated China's reform and opening-up; the third conference officially put forth the reform of the urban economic system where the price system was changed into the double-track price system. Since then, China has truly embarked on the road of transforming from traditional planned economy to socialist maket economy.
"Innovation" serves as an inseparable driving force for the China’s path. Prof. Tao believed that Shenzhen, as the pilot zone and the pioneering city of China's reform and opening-up, had lured plentiful capital and technologies to its shore with the priviledge of China's reform and opening-up to fuel its development. She underscored that Shenzhen has a quality of fearlessness. It's the power of ideas that makes what Shenzhen is today rather than resources or technologies. It's these fearless innovators that created more wealth leveraging capital and technologies. "Ideas can't change the society, but can change people who then can change the society."
Prof. Tao Yitao's lecture drew loud applause and positive response from the participants. The audience unanimously cosidered that the lecture was not only an introduction to the development history of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, but also a theoretical thinking about 40 years of China's reform and opening-up.
