Peking University, Dec. 19, 2018: On December 15, 2018, the Third National Development Forum was held at the Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center at Peking University by PKU National School of Development (NSD) with the theme of “Reform and Opening-up in the Process of National Development”.
The scene of the forum
Gao Shangquan, former honorary president of the China Society of Economic Reform and former deputy director of the State Commission for Restructuring, and Justin Yifu Lin, honorary dean of NSD, delivered the keynote speeches and closing speeches respectively. The forum consisted of two parts: “40 years of reform and opening-up” in the morning and “40 years of enterprises’ reform, innovation, and development” in the afternoon. During each part, a number of well-known scholars and accomplished entrepreneurs shared the major changes and advances they experienced through the reforms of Chinese society and enterprises. The forum also issued three major indexes of NSD, including China’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Regional Index, China’s Investor Emotion Index, and China’s Consumer Confidence Index, and launched a new edition of the books Necessary Reform and Question of Reform.
Shoulder the historical mission and change China through academics
PKU Executive Vice President Wang Bo regarded PKU NSD as a think tank of both Peking University and China and attached great significance to this advanced forum, for it not only summarized the past experiences during the 40 years of reform and opening-up but also contributed academic knowledge to the future development of the country. In 2018, China faces both unprecedented opportunities and enormous challenges. The NSD should continue to conduct in-depth researches in multi-disciplinary fields and provide academic support for national development.
Wang Bo’s address
Yao Yang, Dean of NSD, reviewed the progress NSD made during the reform and opening-up. He stated that in the future, NSD would continue to serve as the academic backbone and assume the historical responsibility of “changing both China and the world through academics”.
Yao Yang speaking
Gao Li, the representative of the co-organizers of the event and director and CEO of Founder Securities Co., Ltd., introduced the specific practice of Founder Securities in the reform and opening-up. He pointed out that in response to the call of our country, Founder Securities had improved private enterprises’ access to finance with a working group to help out private enterprises in need and boost their development with concrete actions.
Gao Shangquan: 4 major stages and 5 major historical changes during the 40 years
As a witness to the 40-year reform and opening-up, Gao Shangquan reviewed the four historical stages of it: target exploration, the establishment of a market economy, initial improvement of the market economy, and finally a new stage of the “five-in-one” reform. Gao also categorized the major historical changes during the past 40 years into five aspects: the change of the country’s focus from class struggle to economic construction, the transformation from a planned economy to a market economy, the shift from a closed or semi-closed economy to a fully open one, the change from the rule of man to the rule of law, and the advance of a poor and backward nation towards an overall well-off society.
Looking forward to the future, Gao pointed out that it is necessary to adhere to our nation’s basic economic system, to the direction of market-oriented reforms, to the modern enterprise system, and to the protection of personal rights, property rights, and personality rights.
Gao Shangquan’s speech
Experts’ views: Reform must take a new step
Wu Sikang, director of the Development Research Center of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government, reviewed Shenzhen’s progress during the past 40 years as the bellwether in the reform and opening-up. Ma Jun, director of the Enterprise Research Institute of the State Council Development Research Center, indicated that economic growth requires both long-term investors who support innovation and executive managers devoted to the long-term development of the company. In order to motivate the executives, it is necessary to grant them proper authority to manage the company. Jia Kang, dean of the China Institute of New Supply Economics and former director of the Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance, talked about how to motivate intellectuals to play a greater role in the new era by establishing an efficient system. Lu Feng, professor of PKU NSD, discussed the importance of macro policies and deepened reforms to China’s current economic development at a macro level and pointed out that deepening the reforms will make China better-prepared for external pressures.
Experts talking
Business circles dialoguing with academia: 40 years of enterprises’ reform, innovation, and development
Yang Zhuang, joint dean of Beijing International MBA at Peking University (BiMBA), hosted the roundtable dialogue section. Many entrepreneurs and scholars focusing on the development of enterprise joined the discussion. Xia Hua, chairman of EVE Group, shared her experience of bringing her staff out of mountains and out of poverty with the company’s embroidery business. Wang Baihua, CEO and CTO of Inspur, showed the company’s independent innovation during the reform and opening-up. Zhang Huarong, chairman of Huajian Group and alumnus of EMBA of PKU NSD, displayed a series of photos illustrating the private enterprises that went abroad and contributed to the nation during the reform tide.
Business circles dialoguing with academia
During the 40 years of reform and opening-up, the enterprises couldn’t develop without the loosened restrictions. Ren Xingzhou, former director of Market Research Institute of Development Research Center of the State Council, reviewed China’s step-by-step deregulation of the prices and activation the market economy in the reform process. Chen Chunhua, dean of PKU BiMBA, analyzed the development of Shunde District in Guangdong Province during the reform and opening-up and discussed the function of government and enterprise in this course.
Justin Yifu Lin: in the new era, the reform still has a long way to go
At the closing speech, Justin Yifu Lin pointed out that though China faces many challenges, it still has a big potential for economic growth. According to Lin, the current downside pressure is closely related to the weak demand in the external market. As a developing country, China still has the advantage as a later-comer. By introducing new technology and boosting the country’s internet economy with the advantage of a large market, China can further stimulate its economy. As for Sino-US trade disputes, Lin believed that the increased tariffs the United States put on some of China’s exports would ultimately be detrimental to US consumers. Looking ahead, he suggested that China continue to support globalization and deepen its reforms.
Justin Yifu Lin giving his speech
Written by: Guo Xinyu & Qiu Tianjie
Edited by: Zhou Yijing
