Last year, Qingdao put forward “six orientations” in its urban construction, namely building a pioneering city in modern industry, a leading modern marine city, an international innovation-driven city, an international gateway hub, a high-quality bay city suitable for living, working and travelling and a demonstration city in modern governance. The office of Qingdao International City Strategy Promotion Committee recently asked the experts of the advisory committee to discuss and exchange mutual opinions on advancing the above “six orientations”.

16 experts from political, business and academic circles, including Long Yongtu, former Chinese vice minister of commerce, chief negotiator for China’s resumption of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) contracting party status and its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and chairman of the Expert Advisory Committee for Qingdao International City Strategies, Chen Qingquan, member of both the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK, founder and rotating chairman of the World Electric Vehicle Association, Hirano Masayuki, Marubeni Corporation's deputy chief representative in China, Michael Shawn, senior adviser to the Bank of England and the United Nations Development Program and former co-chairman of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group, Qingdao-based consuls general of Thailand, Japan and South Korea, brought forward their opinions based on their own expertise from international perspectives, and made proposals for Qingdao to advance the campaign of fulfilling satisfactorily the “six orientations” in urban construction.

Organizing the discussions among the experts is a concrete action that Qingdao took to draw support from global talent and to pursue innovative ideas. In addition to broadening its horizon, Qingdao introduced to the outside world value connotations of the “six orientations” in urban construction and achieved benign interactions.

 (Liu Lanxing)

Michael Shawn is making a speech.