On October 25, 2018, the 6th Academic Salon for Ph.D. Students in Theoretical Economics in 2018 (the 42nd in history) was staged by the China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR), Shenzhen University (SZU), a key research institute of humanities and social science under the Ministry of Education of China, at the International Conference Hall D. The keynote speaker at this salon was Dr. Astrid Skala-Kuhmann, an expert focusing on emerging market and sustainable development issues in China. As currently a special advisor to the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (GIZ), she has unique insights especially about the "Belt and Road Initiative". Dr. Skala-Kuhmann has served as the joint dean of the Sino-German Youth Vocational College since 2016. She is also a member of the Supervisory Board of the Lenzing Group and the Semperit AG Holding. The salon was presided over by Prof. Yuan Yiming, deputy director of the CCSEZR and attended by Associate Professor Zhang Yang, Dr. Ma Limei and some graduate students.
Dr. Skala-Kuhmann delivered a wonderful speech themed "The Belt and Road Initiative from the Perspective of Europe". She started from the European scholars' viewpoints on the "Belt and Road" and explained how most European countries currently respond to the "Belt and Road Initiative". She pointed out that the "Belt and Road Initiative" has created the largest cooperation platform in the world (covering more than 80 countries in the world and two-thirds of the world's population). Many EU countries have actively joined this initiative to seek common development. Dr. Skala-Kuhmann analyzed the current problems and challenges for the Initiative. She suggested that the "Belt and Road Initiative" is not sufficiently specific and diversified for now, which will affect the involvement of other countries and limit in-depth cooperation. Dr. Skala-Kuhmann also made suggestions on how to overcome difficulties and better advance bilateral cooperation. She believes that establishing multilateral cooperation consultative institutions and strengthening the dialogue and exchanges between bilateral governments can help European countries join the initiative more smoothly and deepen bilateral exchanges and cooperation in trade and economics. Finally, by taking Germany, a very typical country in the European Union, as an example, Dr. Skala-Kuhmann explained that Germany hopes that the "Belt and Road Initiative" will facilitate further strategic exchanges and cooperation with China and has introduced a range of measures since 2016 to join efforts with China to promote the development of the Initiative. She emphasized that Europe hopes to seek closer economic and cultural ties with China through the "Belt and Road Initiative", especially in terms of energy, environmental protection and sustainable development.
During the discussion session after the speech, Associate Professor Zhang Yang from the CCSEZR shared his thoughts about the speech. From the perspective of China, he expounded his views and opinions on the "Belt and Road Initiative". Subsequently, some graduate students also exchanged ideas with Dr. Skala-Kuhmann. The students present said they benefited a lot from the collision of Chinese and Western ideas. Finally, the salon was concluded amid thunders of applause from the students.
(Correspondent: Zeng Jiehua)
