On the afternoon of September 17th, the 2021 Beijing CBD Forum was held by the Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality and Chaoyang District People’s Government of Beijing Municipality. Cui Shuqiang, member of the Standing Committee and Secretary General of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Executive Vice Mayor of Beijing Municipality, Wu Hailong, President of China Public Diplomacy Association, Yerik Sarsebek Ashimov, Shanghai Cooperation Organization Deputy Secretary-General, Shi Mingde, chairman of China-Germany Friendship Association and former Chinese ambassador to Germany, Xiong Jiuling, Director General of the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office and leaders of Chaoyang Districts including Wang Hao, Wen Xian and Chen Tao attended the forum.

With the theme “Exerting the International Exchange Advantage, Leading the Way towards a More Open Beijing,” the CBD Forum this year aimed to comprehensively enhance the international influence, competitiveness and attractiveness of Beijing CBD and fully promote exchanges and cooperation among international organizations, institutions in China, business associations and multinational companies of all kinds to demonstrate the determination and confidence of Chaoyang in deepening its opening level from a higher starting point to the world.

In his speech, Cui Shuqiang said that the Beijing CBD Forum has played an important role in promoting exchanges and cooperation among domestic and foreign cities, governments, enterprises, international organizations, international chambers of commerce and foreign embassies. This year, the forum focused on strengthening Beijing’s role as an international exchange center, which will promote the integration and convergence of various international factors, further enhance the internationalization level of the region to accomplish new achievements through promoting Beijing’s Opening-up to the outside world. 

Beijing grasps the great opportunities and shoulders responsibilities given by the central government, takes the construction of the "Two Zones" as a major task of the city, insists on promoting reform and leading development by opening up, and has made a number of innovative achievements of high-quality development so that more development opportunities will be brought to global enterprises. As a center gathering international finance and modern service industry, Beijing CBD is an important area for the implementation of the "two zones" system innovation. Since the construction of the "Two Zones", the CBD has achieved remarkable development results over the past year, with the "first" and "first batch" projects emerging continuously and remarkable demonstration effects. In the future, the Beijing Municipal Government will continue to fully support the high-quality development of Beijing CBD and Chaoyang District, further enhance the international influence, competitiveness, attractiveness, and leading role of Beijing CBD, and make every effort to build a highland for Beijing's opening up to the outside world.

Wu Hailong said that the China Public Diplomacy Association will establish a long-term cooperative relationship with Chaoyang District, share and expand their advantages in their resources, continuously expand the areas of cooperation, further the content of innovative cooperation, help CBD create an atmosphere of open international communication, promote a positive image across the world, strengthen Beijing and Chaoyang District’s Role as an International Exchange Center, support the development of public diplomacy of China and show a culturally advanced, democratic, open and progressive national image of China to the world.

Wang Hao said in his speech that Chaoyang District will further enhance the level of opening up to the outside world, take the lead in building an institutional framework that is in line with advanced international rules, create a comprehensive, multi-level and diversified pattern of opening up and cooperation, and strive to build Beijing CBD into a highland of opening up with global influence; further enhance the degree of internationalization of the region, cultivate international culture, introduce international talents, create a bilingual environment, and create a strong international atmosphere from a more open perspective. Beijing will further enhance the effectiveness of government services, make every effort to build a first-class marketized and international business environment that follows rule of law, provide a good service for the development of enterprises with heart and soul, solve problems and pave the way for enterprises to succeed.

According to Vladimir Norov, Secretary-General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Beijing CBD Forum is one of the first international dialogue platforms that establish ties between Chaoyang District and SCO. The two sides will further deepen cooperation in economic, trade, cultural and other fields to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results in the future.

So far, Beijing CBD Forum has been successfully held 21 times and has become an international high-level dialogue platform for Beijing to open up to the outside world. The forum released the White Paper on Beijing CBD Development - Leading the New Pattern of Beijing's Internationalization and Opening to the World. Chaoyang District People's Government and China Public Diplomacy Association signed an agreement, in which the two sides agree to cooperate in international cooperation and exchange, international resource gathering and international cultural exchange to further strengthen Chaoyang District's role in international business communication. Chaoyang District People's Government also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, in which two sides will carry out active communication and cooperation in the areas of investment promotion, building an open system that is in line with international investment and trade rules, and creating an international first-class business environment.

The Forum was sponsored by international organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and China CBD Alliance, as well as national platforms including the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, the China Public Diplomacy Association, and the China CBD Alliance. It is the forum with the largest number of participating organizations and outstanding international features of all previous forums. The Forum also invited foreign envoys, heads of international chambers of commerce, senior executives of multinational companies and representatives from various related fields such as government, industry, finance, academia and service to participate in the dialogue, and to discuss how to further enhance the internationalization level of Beijing CBD, how to leverage the policies of the "Two Zones", and how to promote the development of diversified cooperation among governments, international organizations, business associations and multinational companies in order to accelerate the construction of an international first-class business center, and help the capital and Chaoyang District to further open up to the outside world and achieve high-quality economic development.