On July 13, 2017, the seminar themed “Seek Common Development, Open up a Better Future” was co-organized by SIIS, Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association and the APD. Supported by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Economic and Social Council, the seminar discussed how to implement the BRICS Economic Partnership Strategy and build a broader partnership amid rising protectionism and structural adjustments in different countries. More than 250 guests including Chinese and foreign officials, scholars, business people and media workers attended the one-day meeting.
Ms. Fang Huiping, vice chair of Shanghai Political Consultative Committee, said she hopes, through this seminar, the BRICS nations will deepen cooperation, thereby promote development, strengthen global governance and jointly tackle challenges in maintaining international peace and stability, fostering an open world economy, improving the international financial and monetary system as well as strengthening coordination in the multilateral mechanism.She said that the CPPCC Shanghai committee will make greater contribution to implementing “going global” strategy of Chinese enterprises.
Mr. Xu Kunlin, Shanghai’s vice mayor, said the municipal authority highly values the opportunities brought by the BRICS countries, hoping the city to continue playing a positive role in their cooperation. Currently, the emerging markets are crucial in the world economic growth. Shanghai, as a new international financial center, will take the New Development Bank as a successful example to seek closer relations with the financial markets from the BRICS countries.
上海市副市长许昆林致辞
Ms. Zhang Qiujian, Vice Director of Committee of Education, Science, Culture, Health and Sports, CPPCC National Committee, said the year of 2017 marks an important year of China's “home diplomacy”, as the country hosted the “Belt and Road” Forum in May and will hold the upcoming Ninth BRICS Summit. With the growing importance of the BRICS countries in the global economy and the increasing amounts of trade volume with other countries, the BRICS countries are not only an important political and economic part in the world, but also become a community of shared future. In addition, Zhang stressed the topics the BRICS countries discuss are more comprehensive, open, inclusive than that of G7 meeting.
Mr. Zhang Jiuhuan, Vice President of China Public Diplomacy Association, said the stable growth of foreign investments has brought many opportunities to emerging economies including China itself. So he called on the Chinese enterprises to explore an effective communicative mechanism to express the Chinese voices to the whole world, meanwhile promote economic cooperation and friendship with other countries.
Mr. Zhao Qizheng, Dean of the School of Journalism of Renmin University & former Minister of the Information Office of the State Council, said BRICS has become an increasingly mature mechanism with the great development potential from an academic concept at the very beginning. He said, “What Chinese enterprises facing are the whole foreign society, not just foreign companies when going out. Whether Chinese enterprises successfully going out highly depends on the extent of foreigners’ understanding to China.” He added Chinese enterprises also undertake heavy responsibilities on public diplomacy, thus all sectors of the society should give support to them. He also said the Asia Pacific Daily (APD), as a new media platform, currently has more than six million users from 190 countries and regions, and its overseas branches could get touch with foreign governmental officers, which would contribute a lot to Chinese enterprises going global.
In the panel discussions, participants shared their insights on how to enhance coordination of macroeconomic policies, promote structural reforms, innovate growth models and establish an open world economy. They also made some suggestions for the Chinese enterprises in participating global cooperation.
