Seminar Held on Strategy and Path for the Construction of China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area in Qingdao

China Education Daily – China Education News Network (Reporter: Sun Jun; Correspondents: Wang Wenya, Yang An) On October 25, the Shandong Social Sciences Forum – Seminar on the Strategy and Path for the Construction of China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area (“SCO Demonstration Area”) in Qingdao was held in Qingdao West Coast New Area with the theme of “The Strategy and Path for the Construction of China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area in Qingdao”. The purpose of this seminar was to offer advice and suggestions for fully implementing the key outcomes from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Qingdao Summit (SCO Qingdao Summit) and for planning for and building the SCO Demonstration Area to a high standard.

Combining “Live Webcast + Offline Face-to-Face Meeting”, this conference was sponsored by the Shandong Federation of Social Sciences, and jointly undertaken by the Qingdao Federation of Social Sciences, China University of Petroleum, and Qingdao Binhai University. Zhou Zhonggao, Deputy Secretary of Party Committee, Vice Chairman and First-Grade Counselor, Shandong Federation of Social Sciences, attended the online event and gave a speech, urging all parties concerned to shoulder the responsibility by proposing wise construction schemes and patterns for the SCO Demonstration Area, researching into the strategic position, functionalities and purposes, and strategic principles for the construction of this demonstration area, and navigating in the right direction for its development. In this way, the SCO Demonstration Area could be driven to scale a new height for Shandong to go abroad and to further open up and reform.

According to experts and scholars attending the seminar, in the new context of international and domestic situations, the SCO Demonstration Area should be aligned with those economic and trade cooperation zones in the SCO member states abroad in terms of industrial path, and should play a proactive role in expanding regional economic and trade cooperation under “The Belt and Road Initiative” based on SCO member states; in terms of development layout, such factors should be advocated including logistics taking the lead, trade expansion, cooperation in industrial capacity, and cross-border development; as for mechanism innovation, innovation should be pursued for the promotion mechanism of regional cooperation, development mechanism for multimodal transport, trade expansion enhancement mechanism, and international capacity cooperation mechanism; construction for the “Five Centers” as platforms should be accelerated, bringing into full play the platform effect and driving the high-quality development of the SCO Demonstration Area; construction of the integrated road traffic network in Qingdao should be strengthened based on “The Belt and Road Initiative” and the “dual circulation”, enhancing the comprehensive professional qualification for the Multimodal Transport Center in the demonstration area; cooperation in harbor, marine science and technology innovation and comprehensive utilization of marine resources should be fostered; the urban, historical and cultural spirits should be carried forward to advance the construction and development of the demonstration area; and education cooperation with SCO member states should also be stressed.