Recently, a symposium titled China’s International Development and Cooperation: New Era, Challenges and Strategies was held at the opening ceremony of the International Development and Cooperation Institute of Shanghai University of International Business and Economics (SUIBE) in Shanghai. Experts from universities, research institutions, the World Bank and the UNDP discussed China’s international development and cooperation.

China has new objectives in its international development and cooperation, said Liu Hongwu, dean of the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University. The first is to establish a common agenda for the world development: to build “a community with a shared future for mankind. It also aims to promote global exchanges, mutual understanding and mutually beneficial development while advocating innovative development concepts.

In April, the China International Development and Cooperation Agency was established. Chen Jie, vice president of SUIBE, said that the agency was founded to integrate government resources in service of China’s diplomatic strategy and Belt and Road construction. Based on the national policy of further opening up, related think tanks must also strengthen research on theories and policies, build information exchange platforms, and cultivate talent for international development and cooperation.

Shi Yulong, director of the Land Development and Regional Economic Research Institute under the National Development and Reform Commission, said China’s international development and cooperation system can be built by improving five subsystems: strategic planning, decision management, implementation, financial security and service security.

Strategic planning includes institutional norms, overall strategies, regional guidelines and international cooperation plans while decision management involves administrative decision-making, project management and assessment.

The implementation system promotes coordinated development of executive agencies, enterprises, non-governmental organizations and professional intuitions that provide support. The financial security system includes aid funds, special funds, policy funds, social capital and other channels. Finally, service security deals with information release, professional consulting, risk assessment and security.

(Edited and translated by SHAO YIJIA)