On March 22, Oded Eran, former Director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Assaf Orion and Galia Lavi, respectively head and research assistant of the Israel-China research project, Dan Catarivas, Director of the Department of Foreign Trade and International Relations under the Manufacturers Association of Israel and Director of the Department of International Relations under FIEO, and He Yun, Deputy Head of Culture and Academia of the Consulate General of Israel in Shanghai, visited Shanghai Academy. Zhao Kebin, Executive Vice President and Zhou Guoping, Vice President of Shanghai Academy received the guests. Both sides exchanged ideas and reached a preliminary intent on cooperation.
Zhao Kebin expressed warm welcome to the guests, and introduced the organizational structure, operational mechanism and key fields of research of Shanghai Academy. In the new era, Shanghai Academy has centered on the major theoretical and practical issues about reforms, leveraged on the intellectual advantage of CASS and the policy advantage of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, and worked to build itself into a high-end think tank, a high-end talent cultivation base, a high-end platform for international exchanges and cooperation and a high-end national situation research base. In 2018, Shanghai Academy will pool expert resources from CASS and launch academic research, seminars, academic lectures and other projects. It will focus on improving the nine subordinate research centers respectively for investigation and data, free trade zone, archaeology, modern finance, coordinated development between urban and rural areas, urban social governance, culture development, modern charity, and media, with the aim to serve China’s reform and development and Shanghai’s innovation and progress.
Mr Eran thanked Shanghai Academy for its warm reception, and detailed the nature and the fields of INSS research. As an independent and non-party think tank, INSS works to promote construction of the public discourse system through quality and innovative research, and to explore the most pressing issues facing Israel’s national security. It aims to provide policy analysis and suggestions to the decision-makers, public elites and community leaders, both in Israel and the international Jewish society. Its fields of research include the security in Israel’s surrounding countries and regions, the world’s major powers and organizations, arms control, network security, energy issues, terrorism and social security, etc. He expects all-round cooperation with Shanghai and Shanghai Academy in more fields.
At the conference, Zhou Guoping introduced Shanghai’s economic and social development with scientific and detailed data. Recent years has seen breakthroughs in Shanghai’s efforts to develop into a global center of economy, finance, trade and shipping. In terms of economy, Shanghai has attracted up to 600 regional headquarters of multinationals, including over 70 from the Asia-Pacific region. In terms of finance, more than 200 foreign-funded financial institutions have settled in Shanghai, taking the lead in securities, futures and gold markets by trading values. In terms of trade, Shanghai’s port represents 30% of the total values of import & export goods at home, and 3% of the global total. In terms of shipping, Shanghai reports more than 40 million TEU of container throughput annually, ranking first in the world for eight years in a row. At present, Shanghai is accelerating the construction of a science and technology innovation center with global influence, focusing on new breakthroughs in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. It also steps up the efforts to widen opening-up, optimize the industrial structure, develop the real economy, and deploy emerging industries like new energy, intelligent connected vehicles, AI, and biomedicine. It strives to build itself into an excellent global city and a city of innovation, culture and ecology that everyone yearns for.
The Israeli representatives were amazed by the huge achievements Shanghai has made. They expected further cooperation with Shanghai and Shanghai Academy. The first is to carry out extensive cooperation in the economic field. The content can cover industries, infrastructure, import and export trade, free trade areas and ports; second, both sides may cooperate on energy, water resources, ecological environment, agriculture and food; third, both sides may work on smart city construction, such as sea water desalination and incubators. Israel and Shanghai may give play to respective advantages and complement each other, so as to achieve win-win results in a larger space and at a deeper level.
As for cooperation on the Belt and Road initiative that both sides are concerned about, Zhou Guoping said, in 2017, Shanghai released the Action Plan about How Shanghai Will Serve China’s Belt and Road Construction as a Pioneer. The document proposed six special actions, including investment and trade facilitation and financial opening-up and cooperation, as well as 60 detailed moves. He suggested Shanghai-Israel cooperation on six fields, including economy and trade, finance, scientific and technological innovation, infrastructure construction, culture and think tanks, and expected earnest efforts to promote the better and faster development of economy and society on both sides.
Attendees included Yang Huijun, Director of the Secretariat of Shanghai Academy, Xiong Hou, Director of the Research Division, Zhu Cheng and Li Chunguang, respectively director and deputy director of the Cooperation Division, Li Meng, researcher with Shanghai Academy, as well as Chen Xinguang, Zhou Jianping and Wang Dehua, part-time researchers with Shanghai Academy.
(Text and photos by Xiang Jinmei)
