4th Global Think Tank Summit Sees Global Sustainable Development astheCore of New Path after 2015

On the afternoon of June 26, the opening ceremony of 4^th Global Think Tank Summit was held by CCIEE in Beijing. Through in-depth, extensive discussions, the Summit themed as “global sustainable development: new path after 2015”will define sustainable development as the core of new path for global development after 2015.

Fifteen years have passed since the UN Millennium Declaration, together with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with poverty alleviation as the core, was innovatively adopted in 2000 as a shared commitment of the UN and human societies to world peace and win-win cooperation. Today, the progress towards MDGs is altogether remarkable, yet greatly uneven by regions, indicating there is still a long way to go before the entire world can work and grow hand in hand. As the UN is mapping out the “development agenda beyond 2015”, the Summit aims to discuss the universal challenges of sustainable development.Premier Li Keqiang met with foreign representatives before the opening ceremony. Vice Premier Liu Yandong addressed at the ceremony, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent a written message. Over 800 representatives from famed think tanks and other institutions at home and abroad attended the summit to compare notes on global sustainable development.

As CCIEE Chair Zeng Peiyan put it at the ceremony, the socioeconomic progress and uplifted future aspirations will push the goals for the next 15 years to a higher stage with broader and richer connotations. We need both survival and development. Consistently devoted to poverty alleviation, we will manage to satisfy the basic subsistence needs of developing countries. Meanwhile, we are expected to pay more attention to global economic development. The shift of focus from subsistence to development will place greater requirements on the international community. Various countries should pitch in to balance ecological, economic and social construction, address global climate change, advance the reform of global economic governance system and remove regional safety risks, thus setting in motion the new model of green and inclusive development. China has been a proactive pursuer of MDGs. Domestically, we have fulfilled our poverty alleviation targets in advance and worked out solutions like infrastructure-led, development-oriented, social resource-based poverty alleviation as well as equalization of basic public services. We are more than willing to share our experience with other countries. Internationally, the “One Belt and One Road” initiative put forward in 2013 marks our commitment to jointly promoting socioeconomic development of countries and regions along the routes. Adhering to peaceful development and advocating a community of common destiny, China, as a responsible power, will press ahead with practical actions and constantly and actively contribute to global sustainability and development.

The following guests also addressed the opening ceremony: Mr. Romano Prodi, President of Foundation for Worldwide Cooperation and former Italian Prime Minister; Mr. Danilo Türk, a professor of international law and former President of Slovenia; Mr. Kevin Michael Rudd, President of Asia Society Policy Institute and former Prime Minister of Australia; Mr. Donald McKinnon, Chair of New Zealand China Council and former Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand; Mr. Grzegorz Kolodko, Director of Transformation, Integration and Globalization Economic Research and former Deputy Premier of Poland; Mr. Thomas Sargent, 2011 Nobel Economics Laureate and a professor of economics at New York University; Mr. William Burns, President of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; and Mr. Nobuo Tanaka, President of Sasakawa Peace Foundation and former ExecutiveDirector of International Energy Agency.

At the parallel featured forums, over 60 specialists will deliver excellent speeches on such topics as “climate change”, “green growth”, “poverty alleviation”, “international relations” and “global governance”. In-depth discussions will be conducted by domestic and international experts and scholars and think tank representatives at the six parallel thematic forums, namely Inequality & Inclusive Growth, International Financial Crisis & Sustainable Development, Global Sustainable Development: Energy Reform, Global Sustainable Development: The Role of Think Tanks, Global Sustainable Development: Brand Building, and Global Sustainable Development: The Power of Market.

Elaborately designed by CCIEE, the Summit is establishing itself as an important exchange platform for global think tanks. Since 2009, the biennial event has been held thrice for world important issues, respectively under the themes of Global Financial Crisis and World Economic Outlook, Global Economic Governance: Common Responsibility, and New Patterns, New Cooperation, New Development. Embracing the principle of “Sharing Human Wisdom, Seeking Global Development”, this year’s session is graced by the presence of top-notch think tanks at home and abroad, including Brookings Institution (the US), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (the US), Nomura Research Institute (Japan), Development Research Center of the State Council, and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In today’s world, development remains to be the precondition for addressing the multitude of global challenges, and, together with livelihood improvement, the primary task of developing countries. The development agenda beyond 2015 should continue to focus on the poorest groups in the world and to carry forward the spirit of MDGs. Under the theme of Global Sustainable Development: New Path after 2015, the 4^th Global Think Tank Summit aims to discuss the new challenges facing global sustainable development in the new situation, and provide viable policy suggestions for the UN. During the Summit, a number of research findings and statements will be published, including Rebalancing Global Economic Governance - Opportunities for China and the G20 beyond 2015, From China to the World: Identifying New Trends of Sustainable Development - A Study on Sustainability Indicator System, and the Joint Declaration of the 4^th Global Think Tank Summit will be established and published.