Universities, institutions forge think tank alliance

Twelve of China's finest universities and institutions jointly launched a think tank alliance on Dec 1, 2016 to conjure up solutions for the problems faced by regions along the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Provinces and municipalities along the Yangtze River face many challenges, such as how to restore the natural environment, how to benefit more from the "Golden Channel", how to develop and connect industrial clusters, and how to balance regional development and coordinate cross-regional cooperation, noted Liu Chenggong, deputy party secretary of Fudan University.

Liu believes these problems will require systematic policies based on in-depth research.

Committed to providing local governments with high-quality research reports on how to better develop the economic belt, the alliance will view the Yangtze River basin as a single entity and work toward finding solutions to the problems mentioned above.

The establishment of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Think Tank Cooperation Alliance was first proposed by Fudan University in Shanghai and backed by 11 other universities and institutions, including the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Nanjing University, Wuhan University, Chongqing University, and Yunnan University.

Universities and institutions involved in the alliance will share resources and work closely in talent exchanges and training programs.

The Yangtze River Economic Belt Development Research Institute and Fudan University will work to provide all the research needs of alliance members.

The institute has set up three multidimensional data platforms to reflect the social and economic status of the Yangtze River basin. Its database includes hundreds of files on 110 prefecture-level cities, 151 national development zones, and 590 provincial development zones.

The alliance is planning to hold annual forums to call attention to environmental restoration along the Yangtze River and sustainable development in the foreseeable future.

The alliance is open to any university or institution interested in studying the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Source: chinanews.com