Description
On April 13, Shanghai Academy held an unveiling ceremony for the Center for International and Strategic Studies of Shanghai Academy and the Shanghai Academy International Strategy Forum of 2019. Li Peilin, Deputy Chairman of the Social Construction Committee of the NPC, CASS member and President of Shanghai Academy, Zhou Hanmin, member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of China Democratic National Construction Association and Vice Chairman of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Xu Xu, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai University (SHU), and Zhang Yunling, CASS member and Director of International Strategy Research Center of Shanghai Academy, respectively delivered speeches. Ni Feng, Party Committee Secretary and Deputy Director of the Institute of American Studies of CASS, chaired the opening ceremony.
Li Peilin, Qiu Jin, contract research fellow (counsellor) of the Counsellors' Office of the State Council, Zhang Yunling, Ni Feng, Yang Bojiang, Director and researcher of the Institute of Japanese Studies of CASS, Wu Li, Deputy Director and researcher of the Institute of Contemporary China Studies, Liao Zhengrong, Deputy Director and researcher of the Institute of Peaceful Development of CASS, and Zhao Kebin, Executive Vice President of Shanghai Academy, jointly unveiled the nameplate for the International Strategy Research Center of Shanghai Academy.
Keynote speeches
Li Peilin
Li Peilin first introduced the positioning of Shanghai Academy, that is, it aims to be a high-end think tank, a high-end talent training base, a high-end platform for international exchanges and cooperation, and a high-end national situation investigation base. Then, he explained the significance of setting up the International Strategy Research Center from the perspective of the complex international situations and national planning. Li Peilin noted that in the short term, weak economic growth across the world, rising trade protectionism, and China-US trade frictions will cast a shadow on the global economy; in the long term, the world landscape will face huge changes that have never been seen in the past century. Under this background, international strategy research is of unprecedented significance to China’s development.
Li Peilin said, as a pioneer in China’s reform and innovation and a leader in the expansion of opening-up, Shanghai needs to be able to: actively respond to changes such as the world has never seen in the past century; make efforts centering on major national strategies, including the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, the development of the new area of the Pilot Free Trade Zone, the construction of Shanghai as a scientific & technological innovation center, and the China International Import Expo; and create a new situation for the development of Shanghai as an international metropolis. The International Strategy Research Center set up by Shanghai Academy will help gather and use competitive academic resources worldwide; contribute to Shanghai’s opening-up; contribute to international academic exchanges and cooperation; improve Shanghai’s global competitiveness; and give further play to the innovative role of new-type think tanks established between academies and the municipal government.
Zhou Hanmin
Zhou Hanmin said, as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping judged, as the world is undergoing changes never seen in the past century, the characteristics of the changes in international situations need to be seized to understand and reveal their connotation. First, the recovery of the world economy continues, yet with a weaker momentum and bigger risks. On April 9, the IMF once again downgraded the outlook for global economic growth in 2019 to 3.3%, but raised the outlook for China’s growth from 6.2% to 6.3%, which is indicative that China’s current policy of reducing taxes and fees, implemented to meet economic transformation, is timely and correct and will be effective. Second, international governance philosophy is undergoing significant changes, which mainly focus on the battle for rule dominance. Third, therefore, we need to strengthen research, which both requires theoretical breakthroughs and is urgently needed by the evolving situations. At present, research shall be done respectively at the macro, micro, and comprehensive levels, i.e. China’s plan in response to the structural reform of the WTO, high-quality development of the integration across the Yangtze River Delta, and construction of the new area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, so as to calmly tackle and actively meet the changes in global situations.
Xuxu
Xu Xu first extended congratulations to Shanghai Academy for the setup of the International Strategy Research Center, and thanked Shanghai Academy for its support to SHU over the past four years since its launch. He said, the International Strategic Research Center of Shanghai Academy features a high positioning, a grand vision, and a solid foundation, and will definitely make fruitful achievements in research on international issues under the leadership of Director Zhang Yunling. He added, SHU has a certain foundation in research on international issues. It presently has several research institutes, including the Northeast Asia Research Center, Global Research Center, Public Diplomacy Institute of Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Latin America Research Center; it boasts many young experts and scholars who focus on world history, politics, economics, and other related disciplines; it has trained a lot of excellent students to undertake research of international issues in recent years; it has also undertaken a number of important projects and achieved gratifying results. He said, SHU is ready to cooperate with the International Strategy Research Center of Shanghai Academy, so as to jointly advance discipline construction, make more achievements and train more talents, and make due contribution to thoughts on the international strategic position in the new era.
Zhang Yunling
Zhang Yunling said, Shanghai enjoys the particularity and convenience in studying international strategic issues. As a platform, the International Strategy Research Center of Shanghai Academy can gather talents engaged in international strategies from CASS and all parts of the country, and focus on research on international strategic issues. He noted that the International Strategy Research Center will fulfill the following three tasks in the future: first, in the face of changes the last century has never seen, China will be a leader in theories; second, it will conduct pragmatic research and focus resources on addressing some big global issues; third, it will launch new thoughts in various forms. He added, a series of rules and systems should be set up, including the awarding system and incentive system. He expected establishment of an institution that’s really devoted to academic research and serves the interests of China and the world.
