On the morning of September 3, the Leading Group for Improving Beijing's Role as an International Exchange Center held its first plenary meeting. Cai Qi, Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Head of the Leading Group, stressed the need to develop forward-looking facilities and capacity building plans for international exchanges that are commensurate with Beijing's status as the capital of China, a great country progressing toward national rejuvenation, and the high frequency of important diplomatic activities. He noted that we need to continuously expand the opening-up in breadth and depth, and forge new advantages in international cooperation and competition, in a bid to make Beijing a highly dynamic and influential center for international exchanges with world-class services. Chen Jining, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, Mayor of Beijing and First Deputy Head of the Leading Group, Liu Jianchao, Deputy Director of the General Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee and Deputy Head of the Leading Group, and Ning Jizhe, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission and Deputy Head of the Leading Group also attended the meeting. 

The participants were briefed on the establishment of the Leading Group, and studied the working rules for the Leading Group and the detailed working rules for its office. Reports were made on the compilation of the Action Plan for the Promotion of Beijing's Function as the International Exchange Center (2019-2022) and the Special Plan for the Promotion of Beijing's Function as the International Exchange Center. 

It was noted at the meeting that the CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to Beijing's role as the center for international exchanges, and General Secretary Xi Jinping has given significant instructions on many occasions, which provided a fundamental basis for our work. Vigorously promoting Beijing's role as an international exchange center is an imperative for better serving the overall work of the Party and the country, fulfilling the city's strategic position as “four centers,” achieving quality development of the city, and satisfying the people's needs for a better life. The Leading Group has been set up to pool the citywide resources and strength to form a synergy, and to better promote Beijing's role as the international exchange center. We must earnestly strengthen our sense of responsibility and urgency, and raise our political stance and integrity. We should keep firmly in mind the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment. We should strengthen our confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, resolutely uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping's core position in the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, and resolutely uphold the CPC Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership. We should make solid efforts to promote Beijing's role as the international exchange center to the satisfaction of the Party and the people.

The meeting emphasized the importance of further optimizing the spatial pattern for international exchanges and forming the pattern of “one core, two axes and four sections.” “One core” refers to the core area for the capital's functions, and work in this aspect includes optimizing and upgrading the space for national events. The “two axes,” namely the Central Axis and the Chang'an Avenue and its extensions, is the area where most international exchange activities occur. Among the “four sections,” the eastern section shall focus on enhancing the capacity for hosting diplomatic and international events, the northern section shall improve the capacity for supporting these events, the western section shall strengthen its role in international cooperation in sci-tech innovations and international exchanges in culture and sports, and the southern section shall become a new gateway for international exchanges. 

The meeting also stressed the need to continuously improve the service capabilities for major national events. For this purpose, a robust long-term mechanism needs to be built to serve China's diplomacy and national events staged on a regular basis and minimize the disturbance to the people. Efforts need to be made to combine the nomination of the Central Axis for inclusion on the World Cultural Heritage List with the work to develop new, high-quality, and unique venues for national events. The public services need to be improved according to international standards. With a focus on attracting more high-end international factor resources, we need to create an environment that makes expats feel more at home. In a bid to attract more talented professionals, vigorous efforts need to be made to accelerate the development of international communities, improve internationalized supporting facilities, optimize the distribution of international schools, develop pilot programs of international medical treatment, and create an environment conducive to international interactions.

The meeting called for strengthened efforts to pursue higher-quality opening-up and development, such as taking advantage of Beijing's valuable resources for international exchanges to boost the city's opening-up and development; vigorously attracting foreign investment, with a focus on attracting internationally renowned corporate headquarters, R&D centers and other institutions; making plans to build a cluster area of international organizations to attract a host of international organizations and representative offices; promoting the institutionalization of the World Tourism Cities Federation and doing a good job in the provision of services for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and other organizations; continuing to make ZGC Forum a great success, enhancing the influence of the China International Fair for Trade in Services, and striving for more opportunities to hold major international conferences, exhibitions and sports events in Beijing; enhancing the city's international influence in the cultural sphere, strengthening exchanges between sister cities, strengthening efforts in such events as Beijing Day, Beijing Week and Beijing Night, and staging an increasing number of well-acclaimed activities for public and people-to-people diplomacy. 

The meeting called for enhancing organizational leadership, strengthening the top-level design, improving supporting policies, stepping up efforts to adopt and implement the special plans and action plans, and promoting the fulfillment of various tasks. The Leading Group's general office should play its role in coordination, supervision, and implementation, and accelerate the establishment of a routine consultation mechanism. All member units should keep in mind the importance of coordinated efforts and work closely with each other to serve the city's goal. 

Other participants of the meeting included deputy heads and members of the Leading Group—Qin Gang, Yu Jianhua, Zhang Xu, Lin Keqing, Du Feijin, Cui Shuqiang, Sui Zhenjiang, as well as Jin Wei, Secretary General of the Municipal Government.