The “2023 World Special Economic Zones Development Forum” was successfully held in Kashi from November 03 through 06, 2023. The Forum was co-hosted by China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR), Shenzhen University (SZU) (the key research base for humanities and social sciences under the Ministry of Education), China Institute of Frontier Research and Xinjiang Think Tank, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Dayou China High-Quality Development Research Institute and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Research Institute, themed “New Roads and New Momentums of Xinjiang’s Transregional Coordinated Development in China’s High-standard Opening-up” Attending the event and delivering speeches were Muhyati Garmuhamati, Member of the Party Leadership Group, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and Chairman of Xinjiang Federation of Trade Unions; He Huawu, Former Vice President of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Former Vice Chairman of China Association for Science and Technology, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Deng Mingjiang, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Xinjiang Association for Science and Technology; Xing Guangcheng, Academic Committee Member of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Director and Level 1 Researcher of China Institute of Frontier Research; Zhang Zhigan, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and President of Guangdong Social Sciences Association; Liang Yong, Deputy Secretary General of the People’s Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; Wu Xiaobin, Deputy Officer of Kashi Prefecture Administrative Office; Ding Bangwen, Secretary of the Party Committee, Kashi University; Memetmin Musha, President of Kashi University; Wang Jun, Counselor of the Guangdong Provincial Government, Former President and Professor of Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences; Prof. Tang Jie, Former Deputy Mayor of Shenzhen and Director of Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen); Zhou Hui, Vice President of SZU; Prof. Tao Yitao, Director of China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR), Shenzhen University (SZU) and President of the Belt and Road Research Institute (Shenzhen) for International Cooperation and Development (BRRI); Victor Larin, Vice-President and Academician of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; and Márquez, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Superintendent of Superintendency of Public Property and National Superintendence of Special Economic Zones, Venezuela. Prof. Tao presided over the opening ceremony.
More than two hundred people attended the Forum, including experts, scholars, entrepreneurs and government officials from domestic and foreign universities, research institutes and think tanks from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Nankai University, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen University, Shantou University, Kashi University, Xinjiang University of Finance & Economics, and Sweden, Russia, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan.
Chairman Muhyati Garmuhamati congratulated the success of the Forum on behalf of the Party Committee and the People’s Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. He expressed that it is of great practical significance and theoretical discussion value to hold the “2023 World Special Economic Zones Development Forum” in Kashi immediately after the release of the Overall Plan for China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone promulgated by the State Council. He also welcomed all the leaders, experts and scholars to contribute their ideas and suggestions for promoting high-quality transregional coordinated development in Xinjiang.
According to Academician He Huawu, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the “Belt and Road” initiative, and it is of great significance to summarize the achievements and experiences of Xinjiang in the past 10 years, and look forward to new paths and new dynamics for high-quality development in the future.
President Deng Mingjiang pointed out that Xinjiang has adhered to enriching the people and prospering the society in the past 10 years, and is turning from a relatively closed inland region into a frontier of opening up to the outside world. Xinjiang plays an increasingly important role in the pattern of China’s opening up to the west.
Director Xing Guangcheng believed that the “Belt and Road” initiative has fundamentally changed the status of Xinjiang. Xinjiang should adhere to the construction of “one port” (“Urumqi International Land Port”), “two zones” (“Kashi Economic Development Zone” and “Horgos Economic Development Zone”), “five centers” (“transportation hub center”, “commercial and logistics center”, “cultural and technological center”, “regional financial center”, and “medical service center”), and “port economic belt” to promote the development of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt.
President Zhang Zhigan pointed out that Guangdong and Xinjiang should adhere to the thought of President Xi, profoundly elucidate the internal logic and fundamental requirements of promoting transregional coordinated development, and systematically think about the main direction of the two provinces in promoting transregional coordinated development and accelerating the construction of the new development pattern.
Secretary Ding Bangwen pointed out that the “World Special Economic Zones Development Forum” has been held twice in 2012 and 2013 in Kashi, an important city in the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt. This is the third time the forum has been held in Kashi in the past 10+ years, and it will definitely bring about inspiration and reward for the high-quality advancement of Kashi’s development.
Vice President Zhou Hui stated that special economic zone research is an advantage and a characteristic discipline of Shenzhen University as an university in the special economic zone. The “World Special Economic Zones Development Forum” hosted by CCSEZR (the key research base for humanities and social sciences under the Ministry of Education) aims at promoting transregional coordinated development in Xinjiang to a higher level and higher quality, helping Xinjiang carry out the new development concept, and making contributions to comprehensively advance the borderland construction with Chinese path to modernization.
Superintendent Márquez emphasized that the successful experience of China’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) is worth learning and referencing by emerging market economies. Venezuela’s SEZs are booming, and the series of achievements of Prof. Tao and her CCSEZR team, including achievements of the forum, will become a new engine to drive Venezuela’s economy in the future, and in particular an important reference for the construction of SEZs in Venezuela.
Prof. Tao pointed out that the “2023 World Special Economic Zones Development Forum” held in Kashi, an exotic and modern city, brought together experts and scholars in and outside of China. It is believed that the intillectual sparks will certainly produce wisdom to explore new roads and new momentums of Xinjiang’s transregional coordinated development in China’s high-standard opening-up, and will surely expand a brand new channel and space for high-quality and win-win cooperation in the construction of the “Belt and Road” initiative.
This forum aimed at implementing the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, laying a foundation for the CPC’s strategic blueprint of Xinjiang’s development in the new era, and exploring ways for Xinjiang to make full use of its geopolitical and factor endowment advantages in the construction of a dual-circulation development pattern in the new era. Experts, scholars and entrepreneurs participating in the forum mainly focused on and exchanged ideas for New Roads and New Momentums of Xinjiang’s Transregional Coordinated Development in China’s High-standard Opening-up, Higher Education and High-Quality Development Jointly Contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative, Status and Role of Xinjiang (Kashi) in Regional Cooperation and International Connectivity, “Belt and Road” Initiative and Xinjiang's High-Quality Development, Pathway Choice for Digital Economy and High-Quality Development in Xinjiang (Kashi), Opportunities and Challenges for Xinjiang (Kashi) in the Changing World Pattern, and New Momentum for National Unified Market and Xinjiang Cross-Border Logistics and other important topics to provide feasible solutions for new roads and new momentums of Xinjiang’s transregional coordinated development in China’s high-standard opening-up.
Participants believed that, in the context of high-level opening-up, Xinjiang will serve as a more effective bridge connecting to Central Asia, South Asia, Russia, and even Europe, a convenient channel for realizing the dual circulations of the domestic and international economy, a golden corridor between Asia and Europe with strong regional influence, a bridgehead for opening up to the west, and a strategic pivot with geographic advantages in the process of construction of the new development pattern in China. Under the guidance of high-quality development, Xinjiang will rapidly form China’s next “economic take-off point” and “growth pole”. Also, Xingjiang will become a “new foothold” and a “new engine for regional strategies” that will drive China’s economy back to sustainable high growth, thus providing solutions for economic and trade cooperation in Xinjiang for the “Belt and Road” initiative. As this year marks the tenth anniversary of the “Belt and Road” initiative, this forum will help promote Xinjiang’s transregional coordinated development to a higher level and higher quality, and promote the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” initiative.
This forum is one of the series of events for “Special Economic Zones and China’s Path” initiated by the Special Fund for Promoting the Development of Cultural Undertakings in Shenzhen, and an annual international academic brand of the CCSEZR.
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Xinhua News Agency
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GuangDong Social Sciences Association
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Chudian News of Guangdong Radio and Television
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SZTV News of Shenzhen Satellite TV
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Shenzhen Special Zone Daily
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Dute News
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https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/pJwVNLrGt8HlwdLfAZKtRA
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