Belt and Road Summit: From Vision to Action

Information

At present, global economy is facing with great uncertainty and challenge while the intense trade protectionism and friction has seriously affected the development of international economic and trade relations. With the advance of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese investment experiences challenges while promoting European connectivity, economic growth and China-EU cooperation. The Summit focuses on how to promote economic connection and cooperation among Eurasian countries under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative in current world situation.

Date: November 22, 2018

Venue: Shenzhen Room, Wuzhou Guest House, Shenzhen

Host: China Development Institute and The European House – Ambrosetti

Theme: Belt and Road Initiative: From Vision to Action

Program

09:30 - 10:10 Welcome remarks

Moderator: Li Jinkui (Senior Research Fellow, China Development Institute)

Fan Gang (President, China Development Institute)

Paolo Borzatta (Senior Partner, The European House – Ambrosetti)

Davide Cucino (Chairman, China Italy Chamber of Commerce)

10:10 - 10:40 Belt and Road Initiative Report Launch

The New Silk Roads to Europe: Retrospect and Prospect of the Belt and Road Initiative 5 years from inception

Francesca Spigarelli (Vice Rector, University of Macerata)

Chinese Enterprises “Gong Out” under OBOR

Liu Xiang (Executive Director, Department of Regional Development and Planning, China Development Institute)

10:40 - 11:00 Coffee break

11:00 - 12:20 Session 1: The vision: geo-economics of the Belt and Road

The strategic value to the Belt and Road Initiative and its economic rationale. Analysis of latest available data of capital flows, trade and investment along the Belt and Road, policy tools activated, and overall assessment of economic activity generated.

Chair: Ding Chun (Director, Centre for European Studies of Fudan University)

Li Gang (Deputy President, Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce, P.R. China)

Arham Abdul Rahman (Deputy CEO, Malaysian Investment Development Authority)

Feng Zhongping (Vice President, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations)

Claude Meyer (Senior Advisor, Center for Asian Studies, Institut français des relations internationales)

12:20 - 13:40 Luncheon

13:40 - 15:00 Session 2: The situation: flows of goods, people, and capital in Eurasia

The first lever to unleash a new wave of growth in Eurasia is an infrastructural upgrade to foster connectivity and facilitate flow of goods, people, and capital. What are the priorities to foster air and land transport and the relevant opportunities for cooperation?

Chair: Paolo Borzatta (Senior Partner, The European House – Ambrosetti)

Hu Zheng (Board Member and Vice President, China Merchants Group, CEO, China – Belarus Industrial Park)

Andrea Tucci (Vice President Aviation Business Development, SEA Group – Milan Airports)

Huang Ziheng (Vice President, Center for Financial Research & Development, China Development Bank)

Xu Hongqiang (Chief of the Department of Foreign Economic Relation, Development Research Center of the State Council, P.R. China)

Shi Kun (Executive Director, Department of Regional Development and Planning, China Development Institute)

15:00 - 15:30 Coffee break

15:30 - 17:00 Session 3: Actions: Business development and innovation along the new Silk Roads

So far, Belt and Road Initiative has triggered mostly big infrastructural projects, with little contribution from private-generated initiative despite the high potential. Between Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and Europe, how can business and innovation become part of the equation and how can the service sector help this process?

Chair: Guo Wanda (Executive Vice President, China Development Institute)

Liu Zhongpu (Full-time Member, Consultation Commission for Shenzhen Municipal Committee of CPC)

Francesco Gianni (Founding Partner, Gianni Origoni Cappelli & Partners)

Zheng Yujie (General Manager, Nanshan Yun Gu Innovative Industrial Park, China)

Silvana Ballotta (CEO, Business Strategies, Italy)

Drago Napotnik (Country Director - China and South East Asia, Conway)

Alireza Kolahi (CEO, Abhar Cable, Iran)

17:00 - 17:30 Closing remarks

Moderator: Li Jinkui (Senior Research Fellow, China Development Institute)

Ettore Sequi (Italian Ambassador to China)

Paolo Borzatta (Senior Partner, The European House – Ambrosetti)

Fan Gang (Chairman, China Development Institute)

Highlights

Exploring New Visions for Asia-Europe Cooperation under "Belt and Road" Initiative

It is of great significance for Asian and European countries, as important players of the world economy, to seek new opportunities for cooperation for common development under the "Belt and Road" framework. In a bid to promote Asia-Europe pragmatic cooperation, China Development Institute and The European House – Ambrosetti jointly held a seminar themed "Belt and Road Summit: From Vision to Action" on November 22, 2018.

New Prospects for Asia-Europe cooperation under BRI

Among "Belt and Road" countries and regions, Asia is the most active economic circle and Europe is the most developed. A broader prospect for Asia-Europe cooperation thus plays a vital role in generating the next round of global economic prosperity.

Fan Gang (President, China Development Institute):

Under the "Belt and Road" framework, China and Europe shall enhance cooperation in infrastructure in Central Asia and Eastern Europe towards building an interconnected network linking the East and West for better connection between Asian and European economies. Meanwhile, Asia and Europe may explore possible models of aid for the industrialization of developing countries along the Belt and Road, such as helping them build local industrial parks and enabling connectivity with infrastructure facilities in the region to enhance their capacity for self-sustainable development.

Paolo Borzatta (Senior Partner, The European House – Ambrosetti):

Europe and China shall fully capitalize on the BRI in exploring specific models for cooperation to create better connectivity for economic cooperation and trade and to deliver greater benefits to the people. At the same time, both sides shall support economic globalization and facilitate trade and investment against all forms of protectionism.

Davide Cucino (Chairman, China Italy Chamber of Commerce):

The Chinese chamber of commerce in Italy can serve as a bridge to engage Italian enterprises in projects in third markets such as the Mediterranean and Africa.

Ettore Sequi (Italian Ambassador to China):

Italy and China shall foster an enabling environment of openness, inclusiveness and mutual benefit based on international rules and standards, deepen China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to deliver development dividends brought by greater Asia-Europe connectivity to all participating economies.

Policy coordination to align investment and trade rules

Progress has been made by Asian and European countries in trade and investment facilitation in recent years, while issues such as barriers to investment and technical standards persist.

Li Gang (Deputy President, Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce, P.R. China):

China and other Asian and European countries along the Belt and Road shall continue to explore ways and measures for better coordination regarding development strategies and policy, jointly expand cooperation on investment and trade in emerging sectors; continue to enhance coordination of rules and innovation, put in place a dispute settlement mechanism as soon as possible, and facilitate Chinese standards to become international.

Arham Abdul Rahman (Deputy CEO, Malaysian Investment Development Authority):

The BRI has provided great opportunities for ASEAN countries in financing and industrial restructuring in the interest of creative industry transfer. In terms of trade facilitation, urgent issues that should be jointly addressed by China and ASEAN include customs cooperation regarding the exchange of information and mutual recognition of supervision, and other areas of bilateral and multilateral cooperation including market access, certification and accreditation, standards and measurement, and statistical information.

Feng Zhongping (Vice President, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations):

European countries are of the general view that the BRI will have positive impact on promoting economic connectivity among Asian and European countries, but certain European countries remain skeptical of China's rise. To address this issue, China shall promote coordination of policy with European countries as it opens its economy wider. Both sides shall act in compliance with WTO rules and properly address disputes so as to make bigger the pie of common interest.

Claude Meyer (Senior Advisor, Center for Asian Studies, Institut français des relations internationales):

The priority of the EU-China Bilateral Investment Treaty is market liberalization. Better market access will help provide a level playing field for European and Chinese companies. At the same time, both sides shall work together on the establishment of proper mechanisms for dispute settlement to protect the interest of European and Chinese enterprises.

Improved infrastructure networks for enhanced connectivity

The Eurasian continent boasts the world's largest capacity for economic output, but is faced with imbalances in economic development and lack of connectivity, limiting the realization of its full potential for internal trade and investment.

Hu Zheng (Board Member and Vice President, China Merchants Group, CEO, China – Belarus Industrial Park):

China and other BRI countries may jointly build areas for economic cooperation and trade to forge synergy in attracting industries and production factors, and boost connectivity among central cities in the "Belt and Road" network to support regional economic development.

Andrea Tucci (Vice President Aviation Business Development, SEA Group – Milan Airports):

Italy is willing to boost cooperation with non-EU countries along the Belt and Road in the aviation sector, broaden air economic corridors linking Europe and Asia, promote supporting businesses such as passenger air routes, aircraft leasing, aviation finance, etc., and facilitate travelling and integrate tourism resources along the line to upgrade high-end service sectors.

Huang Ziheng (Vice President, Center for Financial Research & Development, China Development Bank):

China shall enhance multi-sector cooperation with international organizations, further harmonize technical standards and improve rules for investment and financing in line with international standards to better support "hardware connectivity", i.e., infrastructure projects along the Belt and Road, as well as "software connectivity", i.e., people-to-people exchanges.

Xu Hongqiang (Chief of the Department of Foreign Economic Relation, Development Research Center of the State Council, P.R. China):

Infrastructure connectivity is a priority for the BRI. On this front in future, China and Europe may jointly discuss and formulate specific rules for projects under the BRI and the EU's strategy for connecting Europe and Asia.

Shi Kun (Executive Director, Department of Regional Development and Planning, China Development Institute):

The model of "infrastructure facilities + industrial parks + cooperation on production capacity" shall be encouraged in forging Asia-Europe infrastructure connectivity, so that industrial parks will have better capacity to support the region through enhanced connectivity with surrounding infrastructure facilities. At the same time, an operation model that focuses on the full life cycle of industrial parks from investment to operation will help host countries industrialize.

New cooperation model for a sustainable future

So far, the BRI has triggered mostly big infrastructural projects, with little contribution from private-generated initiative. It is crucial to promote innovative cooperation models as a way to inject new vigor into the sustainable development of the BRI.

Liu Zhongpu (Full-time Member, Consultation Commission for Shenzhen Municipal Committee of CPC):

China shall give priority to environmental protection in investment projects in BRI countries, and provide financial, environmental risk assessment and measurement services for environmental engineering projects, and help governments in BRI countries develop and improve environment supervision, in developing these projects into R&D and incubation bases for environmental technologies so as to achieve sustainable project development.

Stefano Beghi (Managing Partner, Hong Kong office, Gianni Origoni Cappelli & Partners):

Asian and European countries shall explore models for cooperation on intellectual property rights for open, transparent and fair IPR protection to enable greater incentives for innovation and better dissemination and application of innovation outcomes.

Zheng Yujie (General Manager, Nanshan Yun Gu Innovative Industrial Park, China):

The building of technology parks shall align with economic interests of host countries regarding industrial development and people's well-being. Shenzhen's international innovation village offers valuable experience for the sustainable development of overseas economic cooperation zones.

Alireza Kolahi (CEO, Abhar Cable, Iran):

Technological cooperation is an important part of China-Iran bilateral relations in the new era. It is important for the two countries to enhance technology exchanges in private sector and explore mechanisms for funding research collaborations, in a bid to deepen science and technology cooperation.

During the summit, China Development Institute issued research findings for Chinese enterprises "going global" under the BRI, which shows that China now finds itself in a critical period, as well as in the process of the fourth round of global industry transfer. Thus China shall work even more closely with global partners in finding its position in the new global manufacturing landscape.