Session on high-quality development of BRI held in Guangzhou

A sub-forum of the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) under the 2023 Greater Bay Area Science Forum (GSF) was held in Guangzhou, capital city of South China's Guangdong province, on May 22.

It was jointly organized by the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The sub-forum explored opportunities, challenges and solutions in promoting the high-quality development of the BRI.

During the event, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) published the "Belt and Road High-Quality Development Report: Technological Innovation and Technological Cooperation", which focused on the green, healthcare, digital and innovation sectors, charted course for sci-tech cooperation, and provided the development of the BRI with scientific reference.

A photo taken on May 22 shows experts who attended the session on high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) under the 2023 Greater Bay Area Science Forum (GSF) in Guangzhou, capital city of South China's Guangdong province. [Photo/gsf.org.cn]

The sub-forum brought together academicians and experts from the CAS and other leading research institutions as well as universities, who gave keynote speeches and held in-depth talks over such topics as sci-tech innovation, green development, profound transformation of international landscape and the trend of social and economic development in the new era.

Bai Chunli, president of the Greater Bay Area Science Forum and the Alliance of International Science Organizations and an academician with the CAS, addresses the session on the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) under the 2023 Greater Bay Area Science Forum (GSF) in Guangzhou, capital city of South China's Guangdong province, on May 22. [Photo/gsf.org.cn]

Bai Chunli, president of the GSF and the Alliance of International Science Organizations and an academician with the CAS, said that the China-proposed BRI, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, has received a warm response from a rising number of countries and international organizations and has become an international public good and an inclusive platform for international cooperation during the past decade.

Bai noted that the international community has been confronted with severe and complicated challenges like food security and climate change and that the remarkable development of sci-tech innovation worldwide has created higher requirements for the development of the BRI.

Bai said that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is the starting and central point in the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and also the junction between the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and that it has made tremendous contributions to the BRI.

According to Bai, the CAS has established a BRI-related innovation development counseling program in a drive to pool the strength of sci-tech workers for the development of the BRI.

During its compilation of the latest published report, the BRI-related innovation development counseling program took into account the demand of national strategies concerning the cultivation of sci-tech researchers and the innovation-driven development, targeted key and major problems in advancing sci-tech cooperation and innovation under the BRI, and tackled challenges.

For their part, attending experts talked about China's opportunities and challenges in terms of social and economic development, resources and environment, lingering impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, digital infrastructure and e-commerce. They agreed that the country shall strengthen its dialogue and communication with the BRI countries and regions, deepen mutual trust and understanding, expand cooperation and exchanges, and contribute wisdom as well as strength to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.