On May 11, 2021, the 2021 World Special Economic Zone Development (Shenzhen) Forum is successfully held in Shenzhen University (SZU) under the theme of “Special Economic Zone and the Communist Party of China’s Wisdom on Reform”. The joint organizers are CCSEZR, SZU and the Belt and Road Research Institute (Shenzhen) (BRRI). The Forum is held in a special “online + offline” setup, which is the first attempt of the kind by the Forum.
Party Secretary and President of SZU Li Qingquan with guests
Group photo at forum venue
Prof. Tao Yitao, Director of CCSEZR and BRRI, presided over the opening ceremony, and Prof. Yuan Yiming, Deputy Director of CCSEZR, moderated the Forum. Among the guests attending the offline venue of the Forum were experts, scholars, famous state-owned enterprise leaders and accomplished private entrepreneurs, including Prof. Li Qingquan, Party Secretary and President of SZU; Wu Dinghai, Party Secretary and President of Shenzhen Academy of Social Sciences (SZASS), Chairman of Shenzhen Federation of Social Sciences (SFSS); Tang Jie, Prof. at Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen) and former Deputy Mayor of Shenzhen Government; Prof. Guo Wanda, Executive Deputy President and Researcher of China Development Institute (Shenzhen); Prof. Tan Gang, Deputy Dean of the Party School of Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee, and Deputy Dean of Shenzhen Institute of Administration; Xiao Zengjun, Chairman of Shenzhen Feiyang Group; Li Zhou, Assistant President of Jinglan Investment Group and Deputy Director-General of BRRI; Zhang Jia, General Manager of Overseas Department of CSCEC 4th Bureau, and Executive General Manager of CSCEC Zhujiang Overseas Development Co. Ltd.; Prof. Khairov Bari Galimovich, Rector of Siberian State University of Telecommunications and Informatics, Russia; Dang Nguyen Anh, Vice President of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences; Yerdembekov Bauyrzhan, Rector of Shakarim University, Kazakhstan; Fazal ur Rahman, Director of China Study Center, University of Sargodha, Pakistan, and Chairman of Pakistan Council on China; Liang Ziqian, First Vice President of Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Institute (CARECI); Dr. Lin, Special Advisor to the Minister of Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs, Indonesia; and leaders and experts from universities and think tanks, including Siberian State University of Telecommunications and Informatics; Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation; Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences; University of Sargodha; Shakarim University of Semey, Kazakhstan; CARECI; University of São Paulo, Brazil; City University of Hong Kong; and Shenzhen University. GRT Satellite Channel, SZTV News of Shenzhen TV, YISHENZHEN of Shenzhen Media Group, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, Hong Kong Satellite TV and other media provided full coverage of the event.
Prof. Li Qingquan, Party Secretary and President of SZU
Prof. Li Qingquan said in his opening speech that on the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the beginning of a new journey to build a fully modernized socialist country, the Shenzhen SEZ is marching towards the goal of becoming a modern and innovative city. Shenzhen University has grown up together with the SEZ and supplied it with more than 300,000 professionals. The system used for our online meeting today is developed by Tencent, an alumni company of SZU. SZU is stepping up its integration and development efforts, accelerating the critical reforms, striving to build itself into a benchmark university of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, creating a world-class innovative university, and contributing to Shenzhen’s mission to create the pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics and becoming the exemplar city of a strong and modernized socialist country.
Wu Dinghai, Party Secretary and President of SZASS, Chairman of SFSS
Wu Dinghai, Party Secretary and President of SZASS, Chairman of SFSS, said the annual World Special Economic Zone (Shenzhen) Forum is an important academic exchange platform of Shenzhen and plays an essential role in promoting social science research in Shenzhen. This year marks the centenary of the founding of the CPC, and the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan and a new journey to build a fully modernized socialist country, so the theme of this forum, “Special Economic Zone and the Communist Party of China’s Wisdom on Reform”, is very timely and of great significance. The historical practice of the past 100 years has shown us that the long-term rule of the CPC is the fundamental guarantee for the long-term stability of China, and the success of the Shenzhen SEZ is a powerful proof of this truth. In the future, Shenzhen must uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership and strive to create new miracles greater than those that have already amazed the world!
Dang Nguyen Anh, Vice-President of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences
In his speech, Vice President of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences Dang Nguyen Anh pointed out that China’s SEZs have made important contributions to the country’s development and provided rich practical experience of SEZ as reference for the socio-economic development of developing countries, including Vietnam. SEZs have been seen by countries around the world, particularly developing countries, as an effective model for overcoming infrastructure barriers, attracting investment and developing industries. Against the backdrop of the continuous upgrading of SEZs, especially with China’s initiative to develop new models of SEZs, this Forum is important for exploring the knowledge and experiences of the practical application of SEZs in developing countries.
Prof. Tao Yitao, Director of CCSEZR and BRRI
Prof. Tao said that the Forum was held at the historical moment of celebrating the centenary of the founding of the CPC, and hoped that the Forum could summarize the epochal significance and value of the reform policies, pathways and strategies of the CPC over the past 40 years of reform and opening-up, and also hoped that the development experiences of various countries could be shared on the Forum to find models and pathways that can be drawn on for common prosperity. She said that in 1984, Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of China’s reform and opening-up, was very pleased when he inspected the three SEZs Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Xiamen, and commented, “The development and experience of Shenzhen have proved that our policy of establishing SEZs is a correct one.” More than three decades later, on October 14, 2020, at a conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen SEZ, General Secretary Xi Jinping, facing the beginning of a new era, uttered a powerful echo through history to Deng Xiaoping’s words: “The success story of Shenzhen and other SEZs has proved that the strategic decision of the Party Central Committee on the establishment of SEZs is completely correct. The SEZs should not only continue to exist, but should achieve greater success and break new grounds.” As a testing ground for socialist market economy, as the first window for reform and opening-up, as a pioneer in exploring the Chinese path, and as a Pilot Demonstration Area of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, Shenzhen SEZ has not only proved the wisdom in the CPC’s decision for reform and opening-up with her spectacular achievements and development miracles that have dazzled the world, and proved the correctness of the Chinese path, but also demonstrated the reform wisdom of the CPC, as well as the power and charm derived from ideas and choice of pathway. It was a history-making decision by the CPC to start China’s reform and opening-up by establishing SEZs, and the gradual reform was the CPC’s brilliant method for exploring socialism with Chinese characteristics. As important connotations and components of the theory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, the SEZs and the Chinese path will become prominent milestones in the CPC’s theoretical and intellectual wealth.
Smirnov Aleksandr, Deputy Consul General of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Guangzhou
Deputy Consul General Smirnov Aleksandr said that the history of Russian-Chinese relations is centuries old, and we most cherish our time-honored mutual exchanges, as well as our friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation. Current Russian-Chinese relations are strong and robust, with a solid legal basis and a multifaceted organization structure, and daily enriched by diverse exchanges and interactions. SZU and the BRRI have a close and friendly relationship with the Russian Academy of Social Sciences and the university think tanks. We sincerely hope that the development of the Shenzhen SEZ will further expand the cooperation between Russia and China in economy, trade, technology and culture.
Diyar Khan, Consul General of Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Guangzhou
Consul General Diyar Khan said that, looking back at the history of China, there is no doubt that the CPC has played an important role in leading China’s transformation from a chaotic and poor nation in the 20th century into a cohesive, prosperous and modernized global power in the 21st century. Shenzhen is the city that embodies China’s modernization and prosperity. Today’s Shenzhen is taking a new stance and playing a new role as the fulcrum of the Greater Bay Area, and marching towards the realization of the “Pilot Demonstration Area of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” with a fresh determination and at a robust pace of reform. Diyar Khan added that Prof. Tao had been invited to Pakistan three times to share the success story of Shenzhen SEZ. We hope that the successful experience of Shenzhen SEZ will contribute to the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is an important Belt and Road project.
Maya, Acting Consul General of Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Guangzhou
Acting Consul General Maya said that, 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and China. In March this year, the two countries co-hosted the first meeting of the Indonesia-China Friendship Park committee and announced its founding. The meeting reached a broad consensus in the discussion on the construction of the project, which was a solid step towards the alignment of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Indonesia’s “Global Maritime Axis” strategy. China is rapidly building a new development model in which the internal circulation is the mainstay, while the domestic and international dual circulations stimulate each other. China’s expanding domestic market will provide an impetus for its own development and will bring great opportunities for its trading partners. The Indonesian people are especially grateful to the BRRI for the donation of one million medical surgical masks to Indonesia during the most difficult hours of the pandemic last year.
The Forum focused on SEZs and the reform wisdom of the CPC. Experts and scholars from China and abroad reviewed the historical process of China’s reform and opening-up and the theoretical and practical significance of the great strategic decisions made by the CPC. They also exchanged experiences in the development of SEZs in various countries, and discussed new models for reform and innovation and international cooperation in the new era, and shared ideas and wisdom on building a community with shared future for mankind.
The Forum is an annual international academic conference founded by the CCSEZR, a key research institute of humanities and social sciences under the Ministry of Education. Since 2001, 22 sessions have been held in Quang Ninh, Vietnam; the Far Eastern Federal University, Russia; and Kashgar, Xinjiang, etc.; which have had an important influence at home and abroad, and have received widespread attention and high praise, especially from the majority of developing countries. The Forum has now become an important academic platform for scholars, officials and entrepreneurs at home and abroad to discuss forefront issues such as SEZ, free trade zones, the pathway choice for China’s social institutional reform and the Chinese path, making a unique contribution to publicizing the successful experience of China’s SEZs, with Shenzhen as a typical example, and providing Chinese solutions to development problems for emerging market economies.
The Forum has been a project funded by the Shenzhen Cultural Exchange Fund and the Shenzhen Academy of Social Sciences’ “Shenzhen School of Thoughts Go Global” initiative. The Forum of this year is again supported by the Feiyang Technology Co. founded by Xiao Yang, a distinguished alumnus of Shenzhen University. Mr. Xiao Zengjun, father of alumnus Xiao Yang, gave a lively and wonderful speech on Shenzhen SEZ and the development of private enterprises.
