On December 18, 2019, the 2019 Beijing Normal University “Belt and Road” Forum was held at Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai (BNU Zhuhai). With the theme of “Build a High-quality ‘Belt and Road’ Together,” the forum aimed at building an exchange and collaborative platform for high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” Initiative and promotion of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Prof. Hu Biliang, Executive Dean of the Belt and Road School, chaired the forum.

In the opening speech, Prof. Wang Shoujun, Vice President of Beijing Normal University and Dean of the Belt and Road School, pointed out that six years after the “Belt and Road” initiative was put forward, this major enterprise has gone from concept to reality, from theory to practice, and continues to take root and blossom from “freehand brushwork” to “fine brushwork.” President Xi Jinping proposed at the second “Belt and Road” International Cooperation Summit Forum that we must uphold the principles of consultation, co-construction and sharing, stick to the concepts of openness, greenness, and integrity, strive to achieve the goals of high standards, sustainability and benefiting the people, and ultimately promote the constant advancement of the Belt and Road construction towards the direction of high-quality development. This requires us to pay more attention to the quality of co-construction of the “Belt and Road,” to the benefits and sustainability of cooperation, and to people's sense of gain, in order to draw the “Belt and Road” with more steady brushwork and a finer touch, and ultimately to work together to write a great article on the community of common destiny.

Yan Wu, Deputy Mayor of Zhuhai Municipal Government, said in his speech that we would adhere to the guidance of President Xi's thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era and seize the historically significant opportunity of constructing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. To do this, we must strengthen the interconnection with infrastructure in the countries and regions along the Belt and Road, and further deepen pragmatic cooperation in economy, trade, science, education, and continuously improve the refinement of foreign cooperation projects.

“The training of talents is essential for us to meet global challenges,” said Dr. Oomalt Otorbayev, former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan and a distinguished professor of the Belt and Road School. He believes that strengthening the cultivation of talents is crucial for China and the world to achieve high-quality development and improve international competitiveness.

Former Polish Deputy Prime Minister Gzekozko Koledek, a professor of the Belt and Road School, pointed out that the “Belt and Road” advocates openness and inclusiveness, and only inclusiveness can result in a win-win situation. The “Belt and Road” initiative provides a Chinese solution to global economic problems.

Gan Zangchun, former deputy director of the Legal Affairs Office of the State Council and Vice President of the Chinese Law Society, said that building a high-quality “Belt and Road” demands a new understanding of globalization, a more rational judgment of China's responsibility to the world, and a more inclusive attitude to the cultural differences in the “Belt and Road” construction process.

Jiang Yaoping, Former Deputy Minister of Commerce, believes that the “Belt and Road” initiative originates from China but belongs to the world. It is rooted in history but oriented to the future. It promotes consultation, co-construction, and sharing, which provides unprecedented opportunities for the development of Belt and Road countries.

In addition, Liu Xiaoyu, Vice President of the Bank of China Guangdong Branch, and Yang Xiaochun, Deputy Director of the Sino-foreign Humanities Exchange Center of the Ministry of Education, delivered speeches at the forum. There were also two sub-forums, namely the “Belt and Road” Dialogue on Civilizations and the “Belt and Road” Going Out, which were chaired respectively by Shen Xiangping, Executive Dean of Beijing Cultural Development Institute of BNU, and Pan Qingzhong, Executive Deputy Dean of the Belt and Road School.

Nearly 200 experts, scholars and entrepreneurs attended the forum. Many professors from the School of System Science, School of Environment, and School of Philosophy of BNU also shared their views.