On September 20, 2022, Issue B03 of Shenzhen Special Zone Daily published an exclusive interview with Professor Yu Miaojie, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee and President of Liaoning University. The full text is reproduced as follows:
Shenzhen should Speed up the Construction of an Innovative Highland with Global Influence — An interview with Yu Miaojie, President of Liaoning University
Yu Miaojie, President of Liaoning University
Shenzhen should take the lead in building a new open economic system with a higher level and a high standard market system, relax market access restrictions, optimize market access environment, and break down market access barriers, and form a number of innovative achievements that can be replicated and popularized, so as to make Shenzhen’s contribution to building a new development pattern.
n Zhuang Yuhui & Li Ping, Beijing correspondent of Shenzhen Special Zone Daily
“Shenzhen is a brand-new city created by the party and the people after the reform and opening up, and a wonderful interpretation of socialism with Chinese characteristics on a blank sheet of paper.” The ongoing large-scale thematic interview of Shenzhen media’s “High-quality Development Research Bank” has been praised by all parties. Yu Yujie, former party secretary of the National Development Research Institute of Peking University, who just took up his new post as President of Liaoning University, said in an interview with the reporter of Shenzhen Special Zone Daily in Beijing.He hoped that Shenzhen will bear in mind the entrustment of General Secretary Xi Jinping, proceed from the overall situation of our country entering a new stage of development, accelerate the construction of a pilot demonstration zone, take the lead in implementing the new development concept and promoting high-quality development, and greet the victory of the party’s 20th National Congress with excellent results.
Implementing the new development concept is promising in Shenzhen.
At the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward six clear requirements for the construction of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in the new era. “Unswervingly implementing the new development concept” is the first clear requirement put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping for Shenzhen.
“Shenzhen has a high level of economic development, tighter constraints on resource elements, and greater competitive pressure from international fields such as technology and talents, which determines that implementing new development concepts and promoting high-quality development is the fundamental way out.” Yu Miaojie said that Shenzhen is duty-bound to implement the five new development concepts. We should base ourselves on the new development stage, implement the new development concept, build a new development pattern, and achieve high-quality economic development.
He pointed out that the outline of the “14th Five-Year Plan” clearly stated that the new development concept should run through the whole process of development and all fields. The goal is to achieve the development that innovation becomes the first driving force, coordination becomes the endogenous characteristic, green becomes the universal form, openness becomes the only way, and sharing becomes the fundamental purpose. This objectively and systematically expounds the respective positioning, requirements, connotations and relationships of the five new development concepts.
“Shenzhen has a bright future in implementing the five new development concepts.” For example, he said, Shenzhen is the capital of innovation and one of the cities with the best innovation in China. In 2021, the investment intensity of R&D funds in Shenzhen “broke 5” for the first time, reaching 5.46%, which is one of the core indicators that reflect a regional scientific and technological innovation governance system and governance capacity. It can be said that Shenzhen's innovation is ahead of the whole country.
The outline of the “14th Five-Year Plan” proposes that during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the annual investment in R&D of the whole society in China should increase by more than 7%. In this way, by 2025, the R&D expenditure of the whole society in China will account for the proportion of GDP, that is, the R&D expenditure intensity will exceed 3%, which is higher than 2.6% of the national average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In 2021, the investment intensity of R&D funds in Shenzhen reached 5.46%, exceeding the level of developed countries in the world.
“To build a pioneering demonstration zone, Shenzhen should play a leading role in innovation, coordination, green, openness and shared development.” He pointed out that Shenzhen is a sub-provincial city with the highest urbanization rate, and it plays an exemplary role in the coordinated development of urban and rural areas. It can better achieve the integration of new industrialization, new informatization and new urbanization, and promote the high-quality development of regional economy. In terms of green development, we can vigorously develop nuclear power and renewable energy, and increase the proportion of non-fossil energy in primary energy consumption. In terms of opening up and development, Shenzhen is also an important bridgehead connecting with the national strategy, especially promoting the construction of “The Belt and Road Initiative” and implementing the Maritime Silk Road.
Shenzhen should earnestly assume the responsibility of promoting high-level scientific and technological independence and self-improvement.
The Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Supporting Shenzhen to Build a Pilot Demonstration Zone of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics clearly defines the “five strategic orientations” of Shenzhen to build a pilot demonstration zone, with “high-quality development highland” ranking first.
“Technology empowers development, and innovation wins the future.” Since the beginning of this year, Shenzhen has faced new challenges, including more complicated and severe international environment, repeated epidemics at home and abroad. As for how to balance steady growth with high-quality economic development, and how to “empower” at a higher starting point, Yu Miaojie believes that self-reliance in science and technology is the fundamental support to promote the overall development, and the most essential feature of building a new development pattern is to achieve high-level self-reliance. Shenzhen should earnestly assume the responsibility of promoting high-level scientific and technological self-reliance, and speed up the construction of a globally influential technological and industrial innovation highland.
He said that Shenzhen has now become an innovative highland in the whole country and even the world. In the new generation of information technology industry, new materials, biomedicine and other fields, more leading enterprises like Tencent and Huawei should emerge in Shenzhen.
“Innovation is divided into two categories, one is technical improvement, the other is disruptive innovation, and the original innovation from zero to one.” He pointed out that Shenzhen’s scientific and technological innovation must be supported by high-level scientific research institutions if it is to go to another platform. At the same time, Shenzhen should create a better business environment, attract top-end talents from all over the country and even the world to gather in Shenzhen with a better talent attraction policy, so that Shenzhen’s scientific and technological innovation and high-quality development can become an active source of water.
“In recent years, Shenzhen has unswervingly implemented the innovation-driven development strategy, constantly improved the whole-process innovation ecological chain, accelerated the construction of a comprehensive national science center in Greater Bay Area, strengthened strategic scientific and technological strength, accelerated key core technology research, and solidly promoted high-quality development.” He said that he hoped Shenzhen would contribute to accelerating the construction of a strong province of scientific and technological innovation and even a strong country of science and technology.
Taking the lead in building a new development pattern to help high-quality development
“Shenzhen has an unprecedented historical mission. In the new development stage, Shenzhen should give full play to the important hub function of Unicom's domestic and international double circulation and take the lead in building a new development pattern.” Yu Miaojie emphasized that the new development pattern is not a closed domestic cycle. It is necessary to give full play to the leading role of the new development pattern in high-quality development and promote high-quality development in the mutual promotion of domestic and international double cycles.
He believes that to build a new development pattern, double circulation should be the driving force. On the one hand, we should make full use of the advantages of domestic demand and scale to enhance the radiation and leading role of internal circulation; On the other hand, it is necessary to strengthen the global resource allocation function and give full play to the role of the global innovation network in open cooperation and innovation.
He suggested that we should adhere to “the two unswerving principles” and promote the construction of a high-level socialist market economic system; It is necessary to speed up the formation of a new pattern of all-round opening, and accelerate the exploration and promotion of liberalization of service trade with Hong Kong and Macao through Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone and Qianhai Shekou Free Trade Zone. It is necessary to constantly improve the business environment, continue to carry out the “streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services” reform, speed up the construction of a government ruled by law, and promote investment and trade facilitation; Innovation is one of the biggest advantages of Shenzhen. In the future, leading the innovation of the whole country, we should not only lead the innovation of science and technology, but also the innovation of social governance. It is necessary to promote the diversification of export destinations of enterprises, expand the import scale, develop digital trade, and promote the expansion of total volume, characteristics and structure adjustment of service trade.
“The strategic deployment of building a new development pattern will inevitably require speeding up the construction of a unified national market.” Yu Miaojie said that Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is an important national strategic region, and as one of the central cities of Greater Bay Area, Shenzhen can take the lead in exploring and demonstrating the integration of Greater Bay Area’s regional market.
“The Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Accelerating the Construction of a Unified National Market encourages Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and other major national strategic areas to give priority to the construction of regional market integration and establish and improve regional cooperation mechanisms on the premise of maintaining a unified national market.” He said that Shenzhen should explore ways to build a new open economic system with a higher level and a high-standard market system for the whole country, relax market access restrictions, optimize market access environment and break down market access barriers, and form a number of innovative achievements that can be replicated and popularized, so as to make Shenzhen’s contribution to building a new development pattern.