On Nov. 6, 2019, co-sponsored by SIIS, and Shanghai Society of international relations, the international conference on CIIE's Dividends: toward a Better Business Environment in Yangtze Delta was held in Shanghai under the guidance of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce and Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipal People's Government. The conference was also supported by the Huaihai Zhong Road Sub-office of People’s Government of Huangpu District.

More than 30 participants including government officials from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui province and Shanghai, scholars from university, think tanks, senior executives of Chinese and foreign enterprises, and representatives of consulates in Shanghai were invited. Delegates shared their views on the CIIE and the business environment in the Yangtze River Delta, and discussed new ideas and measures to optimize the high-quality business environment in the Yangtze River Delta. Prof. Chen Dongxiao, President of SIIS, Mr. Zhang Guohua, Chief economist of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, and Ms. Zhang Min, Director of Huaihai Zhong Rd. Sub-office of People’s Government of Huangpu District gave opening remarks.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Prof. Ye Qing, assistant president of SIIS and consultant of PWC. In his speech, Prof. Chen Dongxiao first welcomed delegates to the seminar and pointed out that a better business environment has become a key driving force in the high-quality development stage of China's economy in the new era. As a national strategy, the integration of the Yangtze River Delta has also pointed out the direction for the economic and social development of all cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui, and the CIIE has also provided an important opportunity and platform for the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Delta and the improvement of the business environment.

In his speech, Mr. Zhang Guohua, chief economist of the Shanghai Municipal Commerce Commission, said that the CIIE has brought great opportunities for deepening the reform of the mechanism in the Yangtze River Delta region, building a unified regional market, and opening up to the outside world in the new era. The Yangtze River Delta region should make use of the opportunity of the CIIE to build an international, high-end and branded modern service industry cluster, and build a world-class advanced manufacturing cluster with international competitiveness.

In her speech, Ms. Zhang Min, director of the Huaihai Zhong Rd. Sub-office People’s Government of Huangpu District, said that the sub- office would continue to serve the development of enterprises and optimizing the business environment. Through the holding of regular meetings of leaders from key enterprises, a number of interactive systems and service projects have been built to make closer relations between the local government and enterprises.

Ms. Zhang Li from the Department of Open-economy development of  Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission and Ms. Yang Jie from the Department of economic development of Shanghai FAO respectively chaired the two panels. The seminar focused on the opportunities and challenges facing the high-quality business environment in the Yangtze River Delta and how to make good use of the opportunities of the CIIE to build a high-quality business environment. The participants highly affirmed the role of the CIIE in promoting the development of integration in the Yangtze River Delta and made suggestions on how to make use of the spillover effects of the CIIE to build a high-quality business environment.

At the end of the meeting, Dr. Fang Xiao, secretary general of the Shanghai Society of International Relations, presided over the closing session. Prof. Zhang Haibing, assistant president of SIIS gave a concluding remark. She expressed her gratitude to the officials, scholars and representatives of business executives and foreign consulates attending the meeting. She also expected that the dialogue among scholars, governmental officials and entrepreneurs would continue to serve the integration of Yangtze River Delta region and make a positive contribution to the creation of a better business environment.