The Fifth Regional Economics Scholar Forum was held on June 22 in Renmin University of China (RUC), jointly organized by School of Applied Economics and Economic Research Journal. The forum aims to carry out discussions and exchanges, in order to provide theoretical support and policy references for the in-depth implementation of Chinese regional coordinated development strategy, and to accelerate the construction of the theoretical and methodological system of China’s regional economics and applied economics.
Zhi Xiaoqiang, Vice President of RUC, and Jin Chengwu, Editorial Director of Economic Research Journal, addressed the opening ceremony. Zhi Xiaoqiang welcomed all the leaders and experts. He said that discussing China’s regional economic development together is of great importance to promote the development of regional economic disciplines and Chinese modernization. He hoped that academic colleagues adhere to problem-oriented, focus on frontier areas, and study major issues of regional coordinated development in the new era to constantly improve the modernization level of regional economic disciplines.
Jin Chengwu also expressed his welcome and thanks to all the present experts and scholars. He said that the forum is held to put forward targeted, feasible and effective policy suggestions based on the current regional economic problems and frontier issues.
The opening ceremony was inaugurated by Chen Zhanming, Deputy Dean of School of Applied Economics. The keynote presentation session was chaired by Liang Qi, Professor of Research Center for Industry and Regional Development at Sun Yat-sen University, and Zhang Xueliang, Dean of School of Urban and Regional Science at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
The experts and scholars at the session conducted heated discussions and exchanges around five themes: regional coordinated development and urban-rural integration, new quality productivity development and high-quality development of regional economy, regional economic theory and policy innovation in the digital economy era, regional policy implementation effect assessment, low-carbon transformation of regional economy and national unified big market.
Yang Kaizhong, Party Secretary of Research Institute for Eco-civilization at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, gave a keynote speech about IWB, a model that can be effectively used for analyzing, predicting, and guiding the eco-civilization.
Hong Junjie, President of Shandong University of Finance and Economics, discussed the connotation and formation of regional economic corridors, and put forward strategic conceptions to promote Shandong to become an important economic drive in China’s North and to coordinate the development of the North and South regions.
Zhou Yiren, Director of Institute of Spatial Planning and Regional Economy of National Development and Reform Commission, stressed the importance of “how to narrow the gap between regions” and proposed to build an index system to evaluate the level of coordinated development and regional development.
Liu Binglian, Dean of Nankai University College of Economic and Social Development, discussed the general direction of regional economic research under the wave of new technological revolution, analyzed how regional economic research responds to the challenges such as insufficient economic growth, and put forward that regional economic research oriented to new quality productivity is the general trend of future development.
Sun Jiuwen, Professor of School of Applied Economics, discussed the theoretical deepening and practical exploration of regional coordinated development in the new era from the academic perspective. he emphasized that high-quality coordinated regional development should be achieved through industrial transfer, regional innovation and policy optimization.
Guo Aijun, Former Dean of School of Economics of Lanzhou University, analyzed the formation, evolution and internal logic of the economic gap between the North and the South in ancient China, and put forward modern enlightenment from the transportation and trade of the Grand Canal, the implementation of differentiated policies, the deepening of regional cadre flow, and the establishment of an open division of labor system.
The Regional Economics Scholar Forum is committed to providing a high-level academic exchange platform for the latest frontier and excellent research results in the field of regional economics in China. The next Forum will be held at National School of Development and Policy at Southeast University.
