On the evening of December 6, Beijing time, the "FTA: Trends and Prospects" online forum jointly organized by our university and Paysandú Study Center was successfully held. Deleón Gonzalo, Chairman of the Uruguay Paysandú Study Center (CEP), and He Ying, Vice President of our university attended the ceremony and delivered speeches. Chen Wei, Executive Vice Dean of the College of International Education and Deputy Director of the MOFCOM Training Base for International Business Officials (Shanghai), hosted the forum.
Juan Opertti, Director of the Uruguay Free Trade Zone Committee, Pino Monzon Rosa Isabel, Regional Vice Chairman of the National Industrial Work Training Bureau of Peru, Han Bo, Project Director of United D., and Peng Yu, Associate Researcher of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and other Chinese made keynote speeches. 35 officials and experts from 8 countries including Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela who participated in the Seminar on Trade Promotion and Trade Remedy for Latin American Countries sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and hosted by our university attended in the forum.
The signing of the FTA conforms to the new trend of global economic and trade development, and is one of China's important measures to be more proactive in opening up to the world. At present, China has signed FTAs with Chile, Peru and Costa Rica, and has reached a free trade agreement feasibility study with Colombia. The purpose of the forum is to further promote the exchanges and cooperation between China and Latin American countries in this field, share the achievements of China’s free trade development, let the Belt and Road initiative benefit the world and open up new cooperation windows to provide new development opportunities for improving the well-being of people in all countries.
Han Bo pointed out that the construction of the new Lingang area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone-Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone is a national strategy. At present, the new area has become a national equipment manufacturing industry demonstration area, the core functional area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and the main functional area for the construction of Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center. The new area aims to create a special economic function area with greater international market influence and competitiveness, and to build a modern industrial new city with open innovation, smart ecology, industry-city integration, and livable industry.
Peng Yu explained the latest research results in FTA theory field from three aspects: the changes in the number of global FTAs, the theoretical motivations for the development of FTAs, and the latest development trends of global FTAs. He pointed out that in the context of the new era, the focus of global FTA rules has shifted from between customs to within customs. Developed countries strive to export "regulatory systems" through rules, while developing countries are more concerned about how their products enter the markets of developed countries.
In the speech of Rosa, she mentioned the unforgettable experience of participating in the offline seminar organized by our university in 2018. She said that the visit to Shanghai Pudong during the training period left a deep impression on her. From the perspective of the FTA between China and Peru, she deeply considered the challenges and opportunities faced by Peru and Latin America in the context of globalization. She pointed out that the FTA is conducive to attracting Chinese capital into Peru. In the future, she hopes to further improve the regional transportation and logistics infrastructure and promote the transformation of investment models to achieve more flexible, efficient and sustainable trade cooperation.
Opertti likened the Uruguay Free Trade Zone to China's gateway to the Southern Common Market, and he analyzed the vision, goals, service provision, and competitive advantages of the Uruguay FTZ. He said that the FTZ is a business platform for Chinese companies, and he expects this "efficient and safe logistics group" can create new cooperation space for international trade.
Chinese and foreign experts discussed professional topics such as trade liberalization and economic dependence, how does Latin America join the new Shanghai Lingang area, how to optimize FTA for technical cooperation, 2030 FTZ planning, cross-border e-commerce aging issues, China-Peru FTA improvement space, etc. Preliminary cooperation intention was reached on the mutual establishment of workstations, overseas warehouses, and logistics centers between the Shanghai Lingang New Area and the Uruguay FTZ.
He Ying concluded that this forum has a wide range of expert representatives, deep research cuts, and wide potential spillovers. There are not only FTA basic theoretical research, but also policy interpretation, system innovation and working mechanism research. In the context of the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, it is worth thinking about how to revive the economies of various countries. She believed that only by opening up free trade zones and making good use of platform carriers can they contribute to the social and economic development of all countries.
This forum is also the third high-level academic exchange event jointly organized by our university and CEP. The forum discussed and reviewed the past of FTA, shared the current situation of FTA, and looked forward to the future of FTA. The exchanges and discussions between China and foreign countries have drawn up a blueprint for the sustainable development of bilateral relations in the future.
Written by: Guan Rui
Photogrophed by: Chen Xiaoye
Reviewed by: Chen Wei
