On the afternoon of March 17, 2018, the 112th “Invigorating Guilin by Arts” Academic Saloon was held in the multi-functional academic exchange hall, with a theme on “Comparison between ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative and Taiwan New Southward Policy” by Prof. Xu Donghai, researcher at Political Economy Center of Chengchi University (Taiwan) and also researcher at Chinese Economy and Enterprise Research Institute. Prof. Liu Cheyuan, Director of Guilin and Taiwan Cooperative Research Center of GXNU hosted the saloon. The attendees included all the staff from the Guilin and Taiwan Cooperative Research Center of GXNU, all the postgraduates majoring in applied economy from College of Economy and Management of GXNU and others interested in “Belt and Road” Initiative and peaceful development of the cross-strait relationship. The attendees had a productive interaction with Prof. Xu Donghai.
Prof. Xu Donghai earned his master and PhD degrees from East Asia Research Institute of Chengchi University. Since 2008, for 10 years on end, he participated in the Cross-strait Relationship Academic Symposium held by Taiwan Research Center of Chinese Academy of Social Science and National Taiwan Research Association. He also attended for times the Cross-strait Relationship Symposium and Fujian-Taiwan Cooperation Symposium by Cross-Strait Relationship Research Center of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. He was a well-known expert on cross-strait relationship.
First, Prof. Xu Donghai introduced the structure and implementation of the Southward Policy, the initial achievements of the New Southward Policy, the difficulties and challenges of the Policy, the principle and strategy of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, the innovative economic and trade policies of and the Southeast geographic advantages of the Initiative. Then, he had a heated discussion with the present teachers and students, and answered the questions of them on the development of the cross-strait relationship.
Two young teachers from Taiwan who work in GXNU now also explained related questions. Finally, Prof. Liu Cheyuan made a concluding remark. He expressed his gratitude to Prof. Xu Donghai for his great speech. He pointed out that Prof. Xu provided a new perspective on the peaceful development of the cross-strait relationship by comparing the “Belt and Road” Initiative and the “New Southward Policy” in terms of structure, arrangement, philosophy and strategy. He hoped that in the future Prof. Xu Donghai recommended more Taiwan scholars to have academic exchange in Guangxi, and that the teachers and students present could have more discussion and exchange, to promote the mutual understanding of the people across the strait and the development of the cross-strait relationship.