Hosted by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), the “Belt and Road” High-End Think Tank Forum & the fifth meeting of the Silk Road Think Tank Association (SRTA) Council was held in Beijing on December 26, 2019 with the theme of “High-Quality BRI Cooperation: Direction and Path”. Experts and scholars from nearly 300 SRTA members were invited to discuss the future direction and effective path of high-quality BRI cooperation in the new era. The meeting introduced the typical activities and breakthroughs of the SRTA over the past year. The SRTA Secretariat also announced the 20 excellent members of the year (10 won the Research Contribution Award and 10 won the Brand Activity Award). The Institute for China & the World Studies of Tongji University (hereinafter referred to as “the Institute”) is a winner of the Research Contribution Award, ranking second among the excellent members.

      IDCPC minister Mr. Song Tao delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony that was moderated by Guo Yezhou, deputy minister of IDCPC and co-chairman of SRTA. Song said that over the past five years since inception, SRTA has carried out a lot of fruitful work in policy interpretation, investigation and research. He added that IDCPC will further increase its support for the alliance, and work with all the members to leverage SRTA’s extensive connection with the political, industrial, academic, research sectors to provide intellectual support for high-quality development of the BRI and contribute wisdom and strength to a global community of shared future.

      On the afternoon, breakout sessions were held to discuss topics including the changes in the external environmental for the B&R cooperation, the third-market cooperation under the BRI, the connectivity of cooperation mechanisms in BRI development, and the BRI and a new type of international relations. In the first session on “the changes in the external environmental for the BRI”, Prof. Men Honghua, President of Tongji Institute for China & World Studies, as the lead speaker, made a comprehensive presentation on the strategic positioning of the BRI, changes in global environment and major country relationship, the BRI and regional cooperation, and the BRI and China’s new alliances with developing countries.

      As an open research institution, a discipline construction base, and a decision advisory organization, the Institute was awarded this honor due to its leadership and research team’s unremitting efforts and innovation progress in the B&R field. In 2019, Prof. Men and his elite team went to IDCPC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Central Leading Group for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Commerce and other national departments to investigate and promote cooperation; visited Japan and South Korea to survey the implementation of the BRI; and received scholars from the US, India, Russia, Italy, France, the UK, Norway, Denmark and other countries to know how the rest of the world perceived the BRI. Besides, the Institute co-hosted the “Belt & Road Initiative” Development Forum with SRTA, the 4rth Shanghai-Busan Cooperation Forum with Dongseo University, the 3rd Forum on China & World Studies with the Social Sciences in China Press (SSCP), and independently hosted the 2nd Global Emerging Scholar Forum, among other high-end forums, to bring together some of the best academic minds. Also, it interviewed students from the B&R countries studying in Tongji and other Shanghai universities. This award is not only recognition of the Institute’s efforts in the B&R studies, but also a new momentum for it to continue to serve the BRI and build a first-class think tank.