A photo of the Western Forum on Promoting Practical Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries Ren Weichen/photo

China Social Science Network (Correspondent Ji Wengang) On the morning of May 31, the Western Forum on Promoting Practical Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries was opened in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Huo Yuzhen, Special Representative for China-CEE Cooperation Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Liu Zuokui, Deputy Director of the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Secretary General of the China-CEE Think Tank Exchange and Cooperation Network, Cao Hui, Member of the Party Group of Foreign Affairs Office of Shaanxi Provincial Government and Full-time Vice President of Shaanxi People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries,  Wen Bing, Executive Director of the Secretariat for Country and Regional Studies of Higher Education and Researcher of the Institute of Country and Regional Studies of Beijing Language and Culture University, as well as representatives of government and business sectors from the Department of Europe of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs Office of Shaanxi Provincial Government, Shaanxi Friendship Association, Xi'an Free Trade Port Construction and Operation Company Limited, and more than ten research institutions and universities on Central and Eastern Europe research, including Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai Institute of International Studies, East China Normal University, Sichuan University and Xi'an Jiaotong University. More than 50 experts and scholars from regional and national research centers gathered at Xi'an Foreign Studies University to discuss the practical path of China-CEE cooperation towards high-quality and sustainable development. Vice President of Xi'an International Studies University, Mr. Dang Qisheng, presided over the opening ceremony.

President Xi Jinping stressed in this year's China-CEE Leaders Summit that "we should implement the consensus of the 5th China-CEE Local Leaders Meeting and promote local cooperation to achieve more results". Bai Li, Party Secretary of Xi'an International Studies University, said in his speech that the purpose of the Western Forum on Promoting Pragmatic Cooperation between China and CEE Countries is to implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech, gather the wisdom of experts and scholars, and discuss the issues of promoting pragmatic cooperation between China and CEE countries and exploring the western path of local cooperation between China and CEE countries.

Cao Hui, member of the party group of Foreign Affairs Office of Shaanxi Provincial Government and full-time vice president of Shaanxi People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, introduced in his speech the basic situation of exchanges and interactions between Shaanxi and CEE countries under the framework of China-CEE cooperation. He introduced in detail the current situation of sister-city relations between Shaanxi Province and CEE countries, and used the matchmaking fairs on economic and trade cooperation between Shaanxi Province and Romania, Poland and Hungary as an example to illustrate the importance of local cooperation in the cooperation between China and CEE countries. According to Cao Hui, Shaanxi's long history, splendid culture, developed level of higher education and medical science and technology, and superior geographical location make it one of the preferred provincial administrations for many CEE countries in local cooperation. Shaanxi has developed multi-level and multi-dimensional cooperation with CEE countries in humanistic tourism, education and culture, science and technology, medical care and green energy, contributing "Shaanxi's power" to the overall diplomacy and development of the country.

Huo Yuzhen, the Special Representative for China-CEE Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, in his speech, focused on how to promote the China-CEE cooperation mechanism in the context of the unprecedented changes of the century, how to make the western provinces such as Shaanxi Province to make greater contributions in the local cooperation with China-CEE countries, etc. In the background of the unprecedented changes, how to promote the China-CEE cooperation mechanism and how to make Shaanxi Province and other western provinces contribute to the local cooperation in China-CEE countries, etc. Huo Yuzhen said that China-CEE cooperation is an important part and useful supplement of China-Europe relations, and local cooperation is a new growth point of cooperation between China and CEE countries and one of the most active and promising cooperation areas. The Western Forum on China-CEE Cooperation organized by Xi'an International Studies University is a concrete manifestation of implementing the consensus of China-CEE Leaders' Summit, and a useful practice of exploring mechanisms, information sharing and results promotion among local governments, research institutions, universities and enterprises. Huo Yuzhen also hoped that the Center for Polish Studies of Xi'an Foreign Studies University would produce more precise, valuable and high-quality research results on the basis of solid theoretical research, so as to better serve the national development and opening up of Shaanxi Province.

CEE regional and country studies should be clear, practical and distinctive. Wen Bing, Executive Director of the Secretariat of Country and Regional Studies of Universities and Researcher of the Institute of Country and Regional Studies of Beijing Language and Culture University, clarified the "boundaries and definitions" of regional and country studies from the perspective of regional and country disciplines and the role of think tanks. According to Wen Bing, the Western Forum held by Xi'an Foreign Studies University highly reflects the academic sensitivity and precision of the hot issues of country and regional studies, which has strong political significance, deep academic significance and great social significance, and is a meaningful attempt of cooperation among universities, research institutions, governments and local enterprises.

The large local cooperation should be given enough attention in China-CEE cooperation. According to Liu Zuokui, deputy director of the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and secretary-general of the China-CEE Network for Think Tank Exchange and Cooperation, local cooperation has a narrow and broad sense. Under the existing background, "big local cooperation" or "pan-local cooperation" should be vigorously promoted, which should include both basic point-to-point cooperation, i.e., cooperation between a province (city) and a country, and typical local cooperation, i.e., cooperation between friendly cities. According to the situation that "China is large in size and CEE countries are small in size", we should carry out the cooperation of "one province to one region", and also explore the new cooperation mode between "regional to regional cooperation". With the promotion of "One Belt, One Road" Initiative and the accelerated formation of the new development pattern of "double cycle", many new requirements have been put forward for the innovation of local cooperation between China and CEE countries.

China-CEE cooperation mechanism cannot go deeper and more practical without in-depth research on regions and countries. Wang Qilong, Deputy Secretary of Party Committee and Vice President of Xi'an Foreign Studies University, emphasized that the Western Forum on Promoting Practical Cooperation between China and CEE Countries held by Xi'an Foreign Studies University, especially the emphasis on local cooperation research, fully proved that our grasp of national policies is timely and our understanding of the opening up of the province to the outside world is correct. He said, "Near neighbors cannot be broken, distant relatives cannot be alienated", "Salt water does not quench thirst, pretty words do not help", "Individual wisdom is like dew on the tip of grass; the wisdom of all is the water of Lhasa River". Three Tibetan proverbs, combined with the results of cooperation between China and CEE countries in the past nine years, put forward the understanding and thinking of regional and country studies on CEE. Wang Qilong said that in the future, the university will strictly align with the Ministry of Education's "Guidelines for the Construction of Country and Regional Research Centers (for Trial Implementation)", make full use of the university's linguistic advantages, to make the regional and country studies "bigger and stronger to build the brand, more refined and deeper to make the characteristics", and contribute to the promotion of practical cooperation between China and CEE countries. We will contribute to the practical cooperation between China and CEE countries.

The forum was hosted by Xi'an International Studies University (XISU), organized by the Center for Polish Studies of the Institute of Regional and Country Studies and the School of International Relations of XISU, and co-organized by the Research Office, the International Cooperation and Exchange Office and the Management Center of Key Research Bases of XISU. The Secretariat of Country and Regional Studies in Universities of the Ministry of Education gave working guidance to this forum.

Conference site Ren Weichen/photo

Conference site Ren Weichen/photo

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