On the morning of January 15, 2019, Prof. Tao Yitao met with a delegation of four members from Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Institute, including Sun Boya, Dean of CAREC Institution, Liang Ziqian, First Vice Dean, DangHaipeng, Division Chief, and Kashf Nunn, Division Chief. Prof. Tao is the director of China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR), Shenzhen University - a key research base for humanities and social sciences 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). Attending the meeting were Yuan Yiming and GaoXingmin, Deputy director of CCSEZR of Shenzhen University, Associate Prof. Li Fan, Assistant to Director, Associate Prof. Yan Wenjie, Li Tong and Chen Hongquan.
Division Chief Kasuf Nunn, Dean Sun Boya, Prof. Tao Yitao, Dean Liang Ziqian, and Division Chief Dang Haipeng (From left to right)
Prof. Tao expressed her warm welcome to the arrival of Dean Sun Boya's delegation and her gladness about this formal meeting to nail down cooperation details based on multiple previous exchanges between two sides. Prof. Tao gave a brief introduction to the basic situation of CCSEZR and BRRIICD. CCSEZR has been devoted to the study of special economic zones (SEZs) for more than 20 years. It has published many important research results such as "The Annual Report on the Development of China’s Special Economic Zones (Bluebook)" and established a brand with the academic clout in and outside of China, World Special Economic Zone Development Forum. BRRIICD as a new type of private-sector think tank has established an alliance cooperation mechanism with many foreign universities, and undertaken the national "Lancang-Mekong Cooperation" project and the “Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation" project of the Counselor Office of the State Council. BRRIICD also published China's first blue book on entrepreneurship and innovation, Annual Report on the Development of China’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Bluebook).
Dean Sun Boya of the CAREC Institute expressed his thanks to Prof. Tao for her invitation and pointed out that he was shocked by the achievements that China had made through reform and opening-up and China's development reminded him of Shenzhen. He expressed his hope to capitalize on the “Belt and Road Initiative” to promote Shenzhen’s experience to all countries in Central Asia. He also stated that he looks forward to further cooperation between the two sides as the CAREC Institute has unique research on countries around the world, not just China. Dean Sun continued that the CAREC Institute, established in 1996 by the Asian Development Bank, is an international intergovernmental organization headquartered in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the People's Republic of China. Has been dedicated to promoting economic cooperation in Central Asia through knowledge cooperation and sharing, the CAREC Institute currently has 11 member states, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, the People's Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. As an international intergovernmental organization shared, jointly owned and managed by the member states, the CAREC Institute has begun its physical operation since March 2015.
The two sides then conducted detailed discussions on the upcoming cooperation issues, including the use of the CAREC platform, training of officials from SEZs in Central Asia, the 2019 World Special Economic Zone (Islamabad) Development Forum, joint preparation of the policy consultation report and implementation of research cooperation and the establishment of a postdoctoral joint training base. The two sides reached consensus on the above cooperation issues and signed a cooperation agreement.
The meeting ended amidst a friendly atmosphere after the two sides exchanged souvenirs and had a group photo.
(Correspondent: GaoYanling)
Director Tao Yitao and Dean Sun Boya signs a cooperation agreement
Group photo of all attendees
