The Theme Forum: Regional Innovation and Development of 2023 Pujiang Innovation Forum was held on the afternoon of September 10 at the Conference Center of Shanghai Dongjiao State Guest Hotel. The first offline forum after the pandemic received strong support from relevant departments of the Ministry of Science and Technology. The forum, organized by Tongji University (School of Economics and Management, Tongji University (Tongji SEM) and Chinese Academy of Science & Technology Management (CASTM), Tongji University), was attended by nearly 120 professionals from Shanghai’s relevant colleges and universities, research institutes, financial institutions and urban planning and development authorities, including Liang Yingda, Director-General of the Department of Strategy and Planning of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Xie Wenlan, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, Wang Weiming, Head of the Science and Technology Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong S.A.R., Wu Zhiqiang, Professor at Tongji University, Wu Jun, CPC Leading Group member and Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Hubei Province, and Wang Jixiang, Director of the Jingjinji National Center of Technology Innovation. Gu Xianglin, Vice President of Tongji University, presided over the forum, and Huo Jiazhen, Executive Vice President of CASEM, Tongji University and professor at Tongji SEM, hosted the interactive dialogue.

Themed “New Areas, New Arenas, New Space”, the 2023 Theme Forum: Regional Innovation and Development focused on major regional development strategies, such as the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, and ecological conservation and high-quality development in the Yellow River basin to explore how to advance regional sci-tech innovation and transformation, and further play the important role of regional innovation in shaping new growth drivers and advantages.

Liang Yingda, Director-General of the Department of Strategy and Planning of the Ministry of Science and Technology, addressed the forum. Liang stated that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Ministry of Science and Technology, together with relevant departments and local agencies, has been implementing the spirit of important instructions made by General Secretary Xi Jinping as well as major decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee, and overall advancing the innovation-driven development strategy and the coordinated regional development strategy. Liang also underscored that China has achieved positive results in building regional sci-tech innovation systems, and China continues to deepen opening-up and international cooperation.

Keynote speakers at the forum included Wu Zhiqiang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and former Vice President of Tongji University; Erik Solheim, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme and Vice President of the BRI International Green Development Coalition, Wu Jun, CPC Leading Group member and Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Hubei Province, Paulo Martins, Auditor at Federal Court of Accounts, Executive Director of Business, Science and Technology and Innovation at the Brasília Technological Park (BioTIC), Brazil, Wang Jixiang, Director of the Jingjinji National Center of Technology Innovation, and Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Huo Jiazhen, Executive Vice President of CASEM, Tongji University and former Dean of Tongji SEM, hosted the interactive dialogue, where experts and scholars, including MBA and EMBA students from Tongji University, Fudan University and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, had in-depth discussions on hot topics regarding regional innovation, coordinated regional development, green development, sustainable development, innovation and entrepreneurship.