On December 4, the 10th Shenzhen Academic Annual Meeting (thematic academic seminar) themed "Reform and Opening-up and Innovation-led Global City Construction" was held at the Wuzhou Guest House in Shenzhen. Li Xiaogan, member of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee and minister of the Publicity Department of Shenzhen, attended the opening ceremony to grant plaques to the first batch of key research bases for humanities and social science in Shenzhen and present awards to outstanding national social science organizations of 2018. Prof. Tao Yitao, director of the China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR), Shenzhen University (SZU), a key research base of humanities and social science under the Ministry of Education, dean of the Belt and Road Research Institute of Shenzhen University and also dean of the Belt and Road Research Institute (Shenzhen) for International Cooperation and Development (BRRIICD), attended the meeting and delivered a keynote speech. She also conducted academic exchanges with six experts and scholars including State Council Counselor Wang Jingsheng at the meeting.
The opening ceremony was presided over by Wu Dinghai, Secretary of Party Committee and director of the Shenzhen Academy of Social Sciences. Ye Jinbao, member and Secretary-General of the Party Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Federation of Social Sciences, delivered an opening speech. He said that this meeting is an important academic conference to study and implement the spirit of the speech made by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his inspection in Guangdong. It is of great significance to further promote the reform and innovation of Shenzhen and boost the development of social science. He pointed out that Shenzhen should sum up and cultivate urban innovation culture. To this end, we should focus on cultivating philosophical thinking, originality and innovative ethics.
The plaque granting ceremony of Shenzhen's key research bases of humanities and social science (2019-2021) and the awarding ceremony of the "2018 Outstanding National Social Science Organizations of Shenzhen" were also held at the meeting. Li Xiaogan, member of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee and minister of the Publicity Department of Shenzhen granted plaques to the first seven research bases including the Jao Tsung-I Institute of Culture Studies of Shenzhen University, and presented awards to social science organizations of Shenzhen on the list of "2018 Outstanding National Social Science Organizations of Shenzhen" including Shenzhen Federation of Social Sciences and Shenzhen Asset Management Institute.
In the subsequent academic exchanges, Prof. Tao Yitao delivered a keynote speech titled "System Constraints for Shenzhen to Realize Reform and Opening-up and Become an Innovation-led Global City in the Context of Building an Innovative Country". She made a brilliant exposition on three aspects including "the significance of the construction of an innovative country", "the ten edges of 'mass entrepreneurship and innovation' in Shenzhen" and "system constraints for Shenzhen to realize reform and opening-up and become an innovation-led global city".
Prof. Tao Yitao said that innovation can change people's mindset, which in turn changes the society. In the long run, the cultural and conceptual benefits to people yielded by innovation are even more rewarding than the wealth or value created by innovation.
Prof. Tao Yitao also pointed out that in order to realize reform and opening-up and make Shenzhen an innovation-led global city, we should further deepen the reform of the political system and mechanism and unleash the vitality of social innovation through continuous revolution of the government. For this purpose, she proposed five suggestions on how to make Shenzhen an innovation-led global city from the prospective of institutional mechanism:
1. The government should shift its reform focus from resource supply to institutional supply that is conducive to innovation, optimize the payment for entrepreneurs' productive and unproductive consumption and create an institutional environment beneficial to efficient allocation of resources. The institutional supply edge will bring a new institutional performance bonus.
2. The government should shift its focus from basic security welfare supply to opportunity supply that reflects better social equality, so that everyone, whether a common person or a returnee, can equally have a fair opportunity for development; promote the social development and personal development through the flow of shared social resources.
3. The government should shift its regulation and control focus from increasing the personal income to improving the individual capabilities. It should not only provide the freedom of choice and the possibility of achieving free development to each individual, but also give people the ability and possibility to achieve their developments. The ability to choose can become the driving force behind innovation and development.
4. The government should shift its focus of performance goal from discovering successful individuals or heroic figures to the cultivation of group spirit that can result in sustainable development of society.
5. The government should solve the problem of “Shenzhen being open but not international” by making institutional changes, especially the free flow of human capital.
Prof. Tao Yitao said that Shenzhen cannot and should not rest on its laurels. Shenzhen has reached a stage of rational development. If a proper concept determines the future of Shenzhen's development, then the height of the concept will determine the level of Shenzhen's development to a great extent. Such height is exactly reflected by the reform and opening-up and the positioning of Shenzhen as an innovation-led global city. The ultimate development of Shenzhen will undoubtedly the result of deepened reform and opening-up.
The academic annual meeting was jointly sponsored by the Publicity Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Shenzhen Federation of Social Sciences and the Shenzhen Press Group, and organized by the Shenzhen Academy of Social Sciences. It contains six academic activities, including a thematic academic seminar, two advanced academic lectures and three academic seminars, which will be held from November to December.
