On December 31, the inauguration ceremonies of the Advanced Institute of Global and Contemporary China Studies and the Shenzhen Institute of Data Economy of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen were held in Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub, followed by the Qianhai Forum on Development and the Mandate of the Times.

Speaking at the forum, China Forum expert YU Hongjun referred to year 2020 as a year of both tremendous adversity and triumph for China and a watershed in human history marked by exacerbated conflicts and profound changes. The Chinese people, with their patriotism and heroic solidarity, achieved remarkable victory in the battle against COVID-19, and safeguarded national sovereignty by securing the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong amidst destructive foreign interferences. In addition, China has achieved a myriad of milestones in reform, opening-up, poverty eradication, and the modernization of its national governance system and competence.

Our society is undergoing the most profound and complex changes ever, said Professor YU. As the high-tech industry takes leaps and bounds, so does the global competition for national strengths in informatization and its industrialization. Informatization has created numerous new business dynamics and transformed the human knowledge system as we knew it. Today, countries around the world are revving up the development of social informatization and digital economy. As an up-and-coming player, China is engaged in an interdependent and ever-evolving relationship with the rest of the world.

In his speech “On the Third Opening-Up,” Professor ZHENG Yongnian pointed out that the goal of the third opening-up is not only related to traditional investment and trade, or technology and innovation; more importantly, it concerns the power of discourse and rules.