NZCCRC co-host conference on BRI with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre (NZCCRC) co-hosted a full-day conference with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) exploring China’s flagship foreign policy, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The workshop provided an opportunity to delve into detail around the domestic and international motivations of BRI and its evolving nature as well as for exploring ideas about potential BRI activities with New Zealand and the Pacific.
Special attention was given by speakers to conceptualising BRI, what it could mean for an advanced economy like New Zealand, what BRI-labelled projects in the Pacific would mean for the region going forward and in understanding the principles each country is employing in their study of BRI.
Wang Yuzhu kicked off the discussion by explaining that for China to achieve sustainable and balanced growth and development it was vitally important that it worked with international partners. BRI was seen as a mechanism for doing just that.
Wang also stressed that in his view, BRI is designed more to supplement rather than replace the existing regional architecture and that BRI presented an opportunity to engage with China on a wide range of cooperation projects.
Jason Young presented some of the findings of the Centre’s latest report, The Belt and Road Initiative: A New Zealand Appraisal, with recommendations on the principles New Zealand could use to assess and potentially engage BRI bilaterally and in the South Pacific.
Young suggested potential BRI projects involving New Zealand would need to be WTO compliant, adhere to international standards for labour and the environment and be open, transparent and non-discriminatory.
The event brought leading experts from China and New Zealand together to provide insights into BRI, to consider a range of concerns and opportunities around BRI and to present to colleagues at CASS an appraisal of New Zealand thinking on BRI.
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is the leading academic research centre in the field of Social Sciences in the People’s Republic of China. The State Council affiliated think tank informs government decision-making and produces original research in a wide range of areas. CASS has a long history of cooperation with the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre.