SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov attended the opening ceremony of the fifth international Understanding China Conference 2020 on November 20, 2020 as part of his visit to the administrative centre in Guangzhou in China's Guangdong Province.
This year, the participants focused on the prospects for further reforms in the People's Republic of China (PRC) under the goals and objectives of the 14th five-year plan of national development and China's global concept for the "Community of a Shared Future for Humanity."
Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the participants with a welcome speech.
Other top Chinese officials and foreign public, political and academic leaders also gave speeches at the conference. These included Huang Kunming, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee; Li Xi, member of the CPC Central Committee Politbureau and Secretary of the Guangzhou Province; former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo; former President of Indonesia Megawati Sukarnoputri; former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown; Bai Chunli, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); and prominent intellectual and chairman of the China Institute for Innovation & Development Strategy (CIIDS) Zheng Bijian.
Mr Norov emphasised China's enormous economic achievements, which have been the result of its policy of reforms and openness. They have turned China into one of the pillars of the global trade and economic system, and the world's biggest economy in terms of GDP purchasing power parity.
He noted that owing to the wise policy of Chinese leadership, China has built a huge city agglomeration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, which may become the world's leader in innovation and economic activity.
Mr Norov spoke about the success of the previous, 13th five year plan period, as a result of which over 55 million people were brought out of poverty. He said China has made an outstanding contribution to eliminating global poverty in this way.
Mr Norov noted that the PRC was the only large economy to reach a GDP growth rate as high as 4.9 percent, in the third quarter of 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic, thereby making a tangible contribution to global economic stabilisation.
The SCO Secretary-General said China has saved the world economy twice: first through its large investment programme after the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 and now through the invigoration of its domestic business activities
after successful efforts to counter the coronavirus pandemic at home.
Mr Norov reminded the participants about a statement made by President Xi Jinping at the SCO summit on November 10, 2020 to the effect that the SCO is an example of international relations of a new type, which are based on mutual respect, equality, justice, cooperation and universal gain.
Mr Norov emphasised that since the outbreak of the coronavirus infection the SCO countries have exemplified impressive solidarity and mutual aid, thereby demonstrating their common resolve to draft collective measures on overcoming the epidemiological, political and socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic.
He noted that in addition, the SCO continues strengthening its status as one of the most authoritative venues on maintaining peace and stability in the region with reliance on the universal principles of international law, multilateral policy, equal and indivisible security, territorial integrity and non-interference in the internal affairs of states, as well as renunciation of the use or threat of force.
"In this context, the declaration of the Moscow SCO Summit reaffirmed the urgent imperative to promote cooperation in developing this new type of international relations in the spirit of mutual respect, justice, equality and mutually beneficial cooperation and also for shaping a common vision of the idea of the "Community of a Shared Future for Humanity."
Mr Norov said that the SCO has a common understanding that joint efforts to enhance regional security must be backed by the vigorous development of trade and economic ties.
He also reported that in accordance with the new plan of action on implementing economies in the post-pandemic period, the SCO member states plan to work together on the Belt and Road Initiative, including with the Eurasian Economic Community and other national development strategies in the interests of promoting regional coherence.
In this context, Mr Norov noted the important role of the updated programme for multilateral cooperation and the concept on cooperation in developing remote and rural territories of the SCO members in the digital era. He pointed out that these documents pay special attention to digitisation and the introduction of high technology in trade and production and the removal of disproportions in the spatial development of the regions.
Mr Norov recalled the initiative of President Xi Jinping to hold a China-SCO digital economy forum in the city of Chongqing next year.
He emphasised that the digital transformation of the national economies in the SCO space will make it possible to lay a reliable foundation for their global competitiveness.
Mr Norov praised the development of innovation industrial clusters in the PRC, which bring together the scientific and industrial potential of different companies and organisations with a view to creating a single chain of production
based on the latest technological achievements and their use in global networks.
In this context, the SCO Secretary-General supported the idea of creating a platform for enhancing China-SCO joint efforts in the city of Guangzhou for industrial cooperation. It will be aimed at implementing the initiatives of the SCO heads of state on developing Belt and Road industrial parks and promoting related SCO-ASEAN cooperation.