Former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon delivers a keynote speech at the opening ceremony on Thursday. [Photo/Xinhua]

NEXT event seeks to advance international cooperation in resource sharing, innovation, other key areas

The NEXT Summit (Hangzhou 2018) that began Thursday and concludes Friday, in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, has - according to organizers - become a dialogue platform to promote global resource sharing, innovation and international cooperation and to strengthen relationships.

The two-day event, themed "Seeking Optimal Practice", was organized by Zhejiang University, the China Economic Information Service of Xinhua News Agency and the Oceania Silk Road Network, or OSRN.

The event also gained support from companies and organizations such as Yili Group, the Zhejiang University Center for Research Region Coordination Development and Next Federation.

More than 500 representatives from countries including New Zealand and South Korea are present at the summit. Former United Nations secretary-general Ban Kimoon and President of the National Party of New Zealand Peter Goodfellow, who is also honorary president of the OSRN, delivered speeches on Thursday.

Goodfellow said the summit, first held in Auckland, New Zealand in 2017, has attracted governments, enterprises and social attention from countries such as New Zealand, China, Indonesia, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan. Many international organizations such as the UN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are also paying great attention to the summit.

Yang Jian, a member of parliament of New Zealand, who is also the chairman of the organizing committee of the summit, said the NEXT Summit closely monitors economic, social, political, cultural and ecological development trends in the world and called on all relevant parties to make a contribution.

Zou Xiaodong, Party secretary of Zhejiang University, said that the influence and achievements of the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, are fully recognized by all relevant parties, at a time the world economy is undergoing structural changes. Zou said he hopes the event can help further eliminate barriers in international trade, explore development potential, exchange ideas on innovation cooperation and strengthen the application of technical standards.

Goodfellow noted that the BRI suits New Zealand's national strategy, which aims to make the country part of Asia's economic development.

He said that New Zealand, one of the countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road under the BRI, should expand its role in the initiative. One key example of New Zealand's ef orts to support the BRI was that it was one of the earliest member countries of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, he added.

Yili Vice-President Zhang Yipeng said China is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its reform and opening-up this year. It is also the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-New Zealand free trade agreement, he added. The agreement not only provides guarantees for trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, but is also developing a stable and open business environment.

"The summit is a big contribution by elites from both China and New Zealand," Zhang said.