Boundless Is the Ocean Where We Sail with the Wind

Speech by Dean Men Honghua

At the Opening Ceremony of "Western China Academic Report Group – Chongqing Trip"

November 1, 2017

President Li Hong,

Chairman Pu Ming,

Dean Zhou Tianyong,

On this sunny day of the early winter, it is a great pleasure to visit the beautiful mountain city of Chongqing and feel its humanistic atmosphere. First of all, on behalf of the organizer of the fifth activity of the "Western China Academic Report Group", I would like to extend my high regards to the host the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee! Many thanks to the Cadre Education Office of the Organization Department of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and the Academic Affairs Office of the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee that facilitates this activity! Besides, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to HNA Group Chairman Wang Jian for his long-term support! And it is a great honor to have Mr. Pu Ming, Chairman of West Air and a well-known command pilot, here with us on behalf of HNA Group!

"The boundless forest sheds leaves shower by shower; the endless river rolls its waves hour after hour." The two lines were written by poet Du Fu in Chongqing and show the historical significance and majesty of this place. Western China is the hometown of the ancestors of the Chinese nation. It is also the place where the world's four major civilizations converge, the cultures of West and East meet, and the ethnic groups of China mix. It is the strategic high frontier of China’s national security and the strategic rear for the national rejuvenation. Looking back, the west is the frontier of national expansion, leaving us great pride and legacy. At present, the west is the frontier of national development, unrolling a magnificent picture in front of our eyes. Looking ahead, the west will be the frontier of national rise, drawing a blueprint for China's growing into a world power that connects the Eurasian continent.

Western China has been the focus of national attention. Since the call for large-scale development on New Year's Day in 2000, the western region has become a center of national development and opening up. The Belt & Road Initiative has integrated the development of the western region with the national renewal even more closely, regarding it as the base and strategic frontier of China's development. Along with the changes in domestic and international situations, this region occupies a more important strategic position due to its combined role as a gateway city in terms of security, an ecological center, a region rich in natural resources, a multi-ethnic gathering area, and a place of cultural convergence. The report to the 19th National Congress of the CPC stated that "we will improve the balance in opening our different regions and open the western region wider" and "we will strengthen measures to reach a new stage in the large-scale development of the western region". It can be said that to draw a blueprint for this region, it requires not only favorable policies, capital investment and introduction of technology, but also knowledge dissemination, idea innovation and ideological emancipation.

In this context, we have organized the activities of "Academic Reporting Group in Western China" since 2010 with the support of HNA Group. Taking into account the actual needs of the region, we have invited well-known scholars in various fields to give lectures voluntarily to facilitate its development. The scholars we invite are all from famous research institutions or institutions of higher education, and boast fruitful results in scientific research and rich teaching experience. They specialize in such important fields as strategic research, economics, law, sociology, culture and diplomacy, etc. And by delivering lectures filled with professional and pioneering contents, they work to make ideological contributions to the development of the western region and fulfill the academic responsibility of "ordaining conscience for Heaven and Earth, securing life and fortune for the people, continuing the lost teachings of past sages, and establishing peace for all future generations". So far, we have organized 4 activities and 82 lectures in Qinghai, Xinjiang and other places. The manuscripts of these speeches have been edited into a book entitled Lectures on China’s National Conditions, which is published by the Economic Press China in 2015 and has received active attention from all walks of life.

Never forget why you started, and you can accomplish your mission. Today, the opening ceremony of the fifth public academic activity "Western China Academic Report Group – Chongqing Trip", organized by the Tongji Institute for China & World Studies, undertaken by the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and sponsored by HNA Group, is grandly held in the mountain city. Choosing Chongqing as one stop is obviously because of its important strategic position. As we all know, Chongqing stands at the junction of the Y-shaped thoroughfare of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It is an important strategic fulcrum of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the western hub of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the industrial hinterland of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. With the completion of the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe International Railway and the establishment of a free trade zone, in particular, Chongqing will continue to leverage its unique geographical advantages and play an important role as the tie and bridge in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. Therefore, we are deeply honored to be able to share the scholars’ observation of reality and theoretical thinking with the members of the Party and government in Chongqing!

Plato said, "Well begun is half done." In order to make this series activity more successful, we have invited Professor Zhou Tianyong, Vice Dean of the Institute for International Studies of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee and a visiting fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Science of Tongji University, to give a special lecture entitled "Adhering to the Policy of Comprehensively Deepening Reform". As a well-known economist in China, Professor Zhou has so far published dozens of monographs and more than 700 articles in newspapers and internal references such as Economic Research Journal and People's Daily. He receives affirmative comments on many of his research reports annually from party and state leaders. His publications in recent years has included a large number of representative articles on population policy, overall debt, equity and efficiency, government fees, fiscal system, the official-civilian ratio, hydropower development, and the crisis of China’s growth, which have drawn great attention from all sectors of society. I believe that Mr. Zhou's lecture today will definitely enable everyone present to enjoy the spiritual joy illustrated in the line that "the little boat has passed ten thousand layered mountains".

Boundless is the ocean where we sail with the wind. In this activity, we will continue to invite well-known scholars in different fields to give lectures on selected themes. We aim to set a model for the transformation of academic achievements, bring forth new forms for holding public welfare activities, share insights for the development of Chongqing, and contribute wisdom to the development of the western region.

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks again to HNA Group and the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee! Thank you!