A seminar on the 20th anniversary of cooperation between China and the OECD was held in Beijing on the afternoon of March 19. Vice Premier Wang Yang attended the seminar and delivered a keynote speech. Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng also attended and addressed the meeting.
Gao said that since the official establishment of the dialog and cooperative relationship between China and the OECD in 1995, more than 30 Chinese departments have carried out cooperation with the OECD in various forms and shared research results and work experience. The cooperation between the two sides not only has a beneficial effect on promoting Chinese reform and opening up and economic and social development, but also pushes forward the spread of Chinese development experience to the world with the help of the platform of the OECD. In 2014, the Ministry of Commerce signed the memorandum of understanding on cooperation, which was the first comprehensive framework document between the two sides in the past 20 years, representing both a result of the cooperation of 20 years and a new start for the future cooperation.
Gao said that China will hold the conference of G20 in 2016, which will be another important opportunity for China to participate in the in-depth global governance after APEC. We are willing to work with international organizations including the OECD and other countries in the world to strengthen macro-policy coordination, jointly respond to global challenges and contribute Chinese wisdom to global economic governance.
Gao emphasized that China is now accelerating promoting reform and opening up, building a new open economic system and adapting to and leading the new normal of economy, which needs us to further deepen cooperation with all other countries and important international organizations. As an important international research institute of economic and social policies, the research results of the OECD are of great reference value to China. Therefore, Gao proposed three suggestions: Firstly, the “great composition” of cooperation should be planned as a whole and the priorities of cooperation should be well planned. Secondly, the cooperation should be promoted to enter into a “fast lane” and the orderly development of bilateral cooperation should be accelerated on the basis of jointly formulating and implementing 2015 and 2016 cooperative plans. Thirdly, “new fields” of innovative cooperation should be explored, policy dialogues on such fronts as new trade and economic topics in the 21th century, global value-added chains, climate change, scientific innovation and green growth should be carried out and the cooperation between the two under the framework of the G20 should be enhanced.
OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría said when delivering a speech that the cooperation between China and the OECD is mutually beneficial and win-win, which is of great importance to further strengthening and actively participating in the formulation of international rules and responding to and resolving challenges faced by the world economy. It is hoped that both sides can enhance cooperation in all fields in the process of jointly formulating and implementing 2015 and 2016 action plans.
Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei and Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs Yi Gang attended and addressed the high-level dialogue of the seminar. Almost 140 representatives of major Chinese departments joining the cooperation with the OECD and officials of embassies of members of the OECD in China participated in the seminar.
Before the meeting, Gao met with Angel Gurría.
