First International Seminar on China's Neighboring Economy
Held in Shanghai
With the theme of "cooperation and win-win outcomes - new path for economic and trade development between China and neighboring countries under the "Belt and Road Initiative," the first " International Seminar on China's Neighboring Economy " was jointly sponsored by the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology and the magazine "Northeast Asia Economic Research". The meeting successfully ended on October 28 in Yangpu District of Shanghai.
The meeting invited Professor Li Guanghui, deputy dean of the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, Prof. Huang Dong, director of the ASEAN Research Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and more than ten outstanding experts in international and regional economic cooperation in Thailand, Laos, and Japan. Scholars have conducted in-depth discussion on hot and difficult new issues such as the new economic and trade situation in the relevant areas and regions around China and new opportunities for the development of cross-border e-commerce.
Professor Chayodom Sabhasri of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand made a report on the history and prospects of cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion, and Professor Lam Phommasone Sounthone of the Laos National University China Research Center actively responded to the Chinese “Belt and Road Initiative” report. He bluntly praised China’s construction of the China-Lao Railway project as an economic gift package for Laos. People are all looking forward to taking the development of the express train. The enthusiastic interaction with well-known experts and scholars allowed the teachers and students of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology who attended the conference to enjoy direct engagement.
With the advancement and steady progress of the "Belt and Road " initiative, China's economic and trade relations with neighboring countries have become increasingly close. Economic diplomacy to neighboring countries is not only a component of China’s peripheral diplomacy, but also an important means of advancing the neighborhood diplomacy. It plays a fundamental supporting role in peripheral diplomatic work. It has been less than three months since the Institute for China Neighboring Economies of USST joined the Ministry of Education's think-tank type research institution. It has actively coordinated the relevant research institutions to successfully organize this first " International Seminar on China's Neighboring Economy ". It is a good start for the participants in the trade and economic research to focus on the “Belt and Road” economic pattern in the future and carry out interdisciplinary and cross-regional collaborative research.
Professor Wei Jingfu, the founding director of Institute for China Neighboring Economies, finally stated that the focus of Institute for China Neighboring Economies research in the near future is “Belt and Road” economic structure in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. He hopes that the Center’s scientific research and teaching integration will continue. Talent cultivation methods can not only better respond to the needs of new talents under the “Belt and Road” initiative, but also help this research platform grow as a well-known international academic research think tank ，serving the Yangtze River Delta and even the neighboring economic and trade cooperation fields.
张世琪、杨晓华
