SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov’s remarks at the Shanghai Forum on the new round of Beijing’s “opening-up policy”

On 6 November 2019, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov took part in the forum dedicated to the new round of Beijing's "opening-up policy" held as part of the second China International Import Expo.

The event was also attended by the leadership and senior officials of the Beijing Government and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce as well as foreign officials and guests.

In his remarks, the SCO Secretary-General noted that today most countries were studying Beijing's new approaches to capital city administration in different spheres with great interest, in particular those related to economic development, services, high-tech industry, the social sphere, the environment, and the development of Beijing as a megacity comfortable for all residents and visitors.

Mr Norov drew the participants' attention to the fact that the history of Beijing was part of the glorious history of China, which chose a new path for its political and socioeconomic development on 1 October, 1949. Beijing has always been at the forefront of efforts to introduce major reforms. The city is strictly complying with the new development principles and the "opening-up policy" and continuing to move towards the sustainable economic and social progress in all areas, which have significantly changed the city and the country.

In addition, Mr Norov stressed that the policy of reform and opening-up had uncovered the colossal internal reserves of the Chinese: over the four decades (since 1979) China's GDP grew more than 88 times, reaching around $13.5 trillion in 2018. There was the unprecedented example of 800 million people being raised above the poverty line over a relatively short period of time: the number of the poor decreased to 0.12 percent (16.6 million).

At the same time, according to the Secretary-General's information, Beijing has reached high levels in improving standards of living compared to the world's other megacities. It is no coincidence that the level of satisfaction with the municipal administration's work has reached more than 90 percent. Beijing is the heart of China, its political, administrative, cultural and historical centre. The comprehensive activities of the Beijing municipal administration can serve as a good example to other SCO Family capitals.

Mr Norov also noted that Beijing's rich development experience gave hope that the SCO countries would succeed in stepping up cooperation between cities and regions in the following important fields.

First, the focus of attention should be on the experience of the Beijing authorities in developing an up-to-date construction industry. The new Daxing International Airport opened this year. The largest in the world, it is a miracle of engineering and will become Beijing and China's visiting card.

Second, this year the Concept of the SCO Member States' Cooperation in Digitalisation and Information and Communications Technologies was adopted at the Bishkek summit. China is a leader in the development of ICT, so its experience and technologies could help achieve important benefits in digitalising the entire SCO

space. In this sense, Beijing's success in reforming the city's management using advanced information technologies is worth mentioning. For example, pilot projects on digitalising the services sector were expanded in compliance with international practice. Every day, an average of 199 innovative enterprises are established in Beijing. The flow of foreign investment into the capital of China is impressive: last year it exceeded $16 billion.

Third, the Belt and Road Initiative presented by President of China Xi Jinping in 2013 is especially important for the SCO countries. Combining the Belt and Road initiative with the SCO member states' national strategies of economic development complies with the goals, tasks and principles of the organisation as well as the SCO Spirit. In this sense, Beijing can share its rich experience in constructing high-speed transport routes and introducing advanced methods of managing modern multi-modal transport and logistics centres.

Fourth, the cooperation between Beijing and SCO capitals in tourism seems promising because the SCO's potential, given that it accounts for 44 percent of the world population, has not been fully realised. Today 43 cities out of 141 participants in the World Tourism Cities Federation are situated in the SCO member states. They are important strategic reserves in the development of tourism.

The SCO Secretary-General emphasised that the national events to mark the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China had showed the entire world the great successes in state building, protecting people's rights and freedoms and creating the necessary conditions for the sustainable, comprehensive and consistent economic growth that promotes China's development and prosperity.

Mr Norov highlighted the activities of the party and the Chinese Government aimed at reaching the goals of the Two Centenaries: to build a relatively rih and prosperous society by 2021, the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party, and to build a rich, strong, democratic, civilised and harmonious socialist country with Chinese specifics, standing at the same level as developed countries, by 2049, the centenary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.