The participation of BRITF at the Binzhou Seminar was the highlight of the trip to Binzhou and was held on Saturday 30 November 2019 in the Binzhou Grand Hotel. See earlier entries about our trip.
Government leaders of Binzhou government opened the seminar and gave introductions to the city, also using a well-done video.
Keynote speeches by BRITF experts
Presentations:
– “Promoting Quality Tourism” by Gilbert Van Kerckhove
– “The advantages to resume production by UK pedigree pig genes” (Artificial Intelligence in agriculture)by William Spiers
– “Smart Binzhou, smart tech, smart expats” by David Feng
– “Industrial Development” by Vitaly Mankevich (Russia)
Roundtable forum 1: with participation of Sydney Parmenter
Roundtable forum 2: with participation of Maurice Eliam.
I received a very nice book about Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”, on … silk pages…
It is a pity that the city does not take full advantage of that famous historical figure. I understand they made some kind of a museum about him but is is a flop.
From 29 November to 1 December I headed a delegation of our foreign experts (BRITF-UWEE) to Binzhou (Shandong), to participate in a seminar, meet the heads of the Binzhou government and visit some key locations.
It was my second visit to Binzhou. In September 2018 I visited the Binzhou Polytechnic and I also stayed in the Binzhou Grand Hotel.
Our expert group: Sydney, William, David, Mary, Maurice and delegates of UWEE.
We were also joined by the Russian delegation I had received in Beijing in the morning of 29 November. There was also a lady delegate from Malaysia (Ms. Kanmani, University of Malaysia).
We stayed in the Binzhou Grand Hotel where also the seminar was held.
I was delighted to find in the hotel’s buffet Belgian endive!
Binzhou is a city located in the northern part of Shandong Province in China. It is two hours away by car from Shandong’s capital city Jinan. The city is located near the Yellow River and is one of the most important transportation hubs in Northern China. The Yellow River Bridge in Binzhou is an important passageway that connects the province Jiangsu, Shandong, Beijing and Tianjin together.
Established in the Shang Dynasty (1600 to 1050 BCE), Binzhou has over 3000 years of history. It is the hometown of many significant figures in Chinese history, including Sun Tzu (544BC to 496BC), who is the author of the “The Art of War”, which has been translated into many languages as one of the best-selling books on military strategies. Today, Binzhou occupies an area of 9,600 sq. km and has a population of 3.8 million.
The main industries in Binzhou are textile, chemical engineering, metallurgical engineering, machinery manufacturing, food processing and new technologies.
Welcome
On the evening of 29 November we were officially welcomed by the Party Secretary, the mayor, the vice mayor and other leaders (see the list). Banquets on 29 and 30 November. Also present, Mr. Chen Kangfu of the Jiusan Society. The Russian delegation brought the heavy-drinking spirit. Our French delegate Maurice finished it all with a small piano concert.
See some pictures taken in the hotel and during the banquets (Binzhou Grand Hotel and Binzhou Zhonghai Hotel):
In the morning of 29 November 2019 I officially received the visit of Russian delegation in the UWEE offices.
At the occasion I officially handed over their certificates.
In the afternoon we all headed to Shandong to later meet in Binzhou, to participate in the seminar and the visits.
Later in December the Russian delegation was officially received by Vice Premier Wang Qishan.
Guests from Moscow
The delegation was composed by Vitaly Mankevich, President of the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and Vice Chairman of the China-Russia Friendship Association; Gao Muyang, also of the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; Sekerin Vladimir and Andrey Efremov of Moscow Polytech; (Ms.) Svetlana Kamysheva of the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, see the website.
I was on Indus News a few times, mostly thanks to Skype video interviews.
I tried to provide the online clips, all on YouTube. Mostly my part is in the second half, so wind forward!
Indus news is the first international news channel of Pakistan.
See a few pics:
Show on 30 September 2019 in which we shall be discussing, how Pakistan is being impacted by climate change keeping in view the melting glaciers and other. We will also discuss what the role is being played by Pakistan and how much more needs to be done for this region and how the onus lies with the developed world to do more.
We refer to the report that was written by the Global Commission on Adaptation – a group of political and business leaders led by former U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva, which was tasked with “raising the visibility of climate adaptation on the global agenda” ahead of the upcoming UN Climate Action Summit in New York on Sept. 23. Also states that investing $1.8 trillion between 2020 and 2030 in projects to help communities adapt to the worsening impacts of climate change could yield $7.1 trillion in economic benefits, according to a report released on Tuesday by a high-level international commission.
The clip
Indus Special with Meshal Malik | Islamophobia: A Global Threat? | Climate Change | Ep 225
Importance of Trade
Show on 17 September 2019 in which we shall be discussing:
How important is trade for any struggling economy? What important role exports can play? What a country should do to strengthen its economic side?
Also, what important role can individuals play by the government support?
Our main area of debate will be on the importance of local productions and its exports.
Meshal Malik is the show host.
The clip:
Indus Special with Meshal Malik | The Impact of Trade | Ep 216
My notes (not edited)
China as example: achievements in 40 years. From Medieval underdeveloped country to a world power. The factory of the world! Why did other countries not succeed as much?
Exports generate foreign currency, increase productivity, elevate the technological level of the industry.
The secret? Exports combined with technology transfer from the West, to produce more, and more added-value goods, hi-tech, good quality, fast production and logistics, building a massive supply chain to serve the manufacturing industry.
Requires:
government support to develop transport and logistics
top quality telecommunications, energy and water supplies
go away from labor-intensive industries that also demand a lot of energy and water
avoid environmental problems
good pool of labor, bothe blue collar and white collar
avoid poor labor protection but also avoid stifling bureaucracy
own technology development
TikTok
Show on 4 November 2019 in which we shall be discussing:
The U.S. government has launched a national security review of the Chinese based social media app, TikTok and its owner, Chinese tech company ByteDance.. We take a closer look and discuss the impact the US China rivalry is having on technological development and try to understand the role of big data in the competition amongst the world powers.
Meshal Malik is the show host.
The clip:
Indus Special with Meshal Malik – Twitter’s Ban on Political Ads – TikTok Under Investigation – EP 250
The importance of funding in the education sector
Show on 11 November 2019 in which we shall be discussing:
With estimations showing that more than 260 million children out of school globally, what role does international funding play in supporting developing countries and their students attain education and become able enough to compete in the global market. We also look at displaced and refugee children and what needs to be done to improve their chances of education.
What happens to long-term development when countries reduce education budgets or do not invest enough in education?
How can global market needs be met by local educational institutions? (in a globalized world where an individual must be prepared to be a part of a global workforce)
Why are donors and why is international funding important for the education sector?
Meshal Malik is the host.
The clip:
Indus Special with Meshal Malik – Global Educational Attainment – Ep 255 – Indus News
This year delegations of BRITF visited Paris and Minsk.
Paris in April and July 2019
I could not attend myself but Sun Bin took part. Our experts Jean Marsac and Martine Garreau from Paris joined, along with others.
See pictures of the 6 April and 18 July visits.
See the official statement for the 6 April 2019 visit: 190406Paris
Minsk, Belarus
The Ministry of Health of Belarus hosted the “One Belt and One Road International Medical Higher Education and Industry Development Forum” hosted by the Belarusian National Medical University. The French expert team led the group of European domestic medicines to gather in Minsk on 21 October 2019. Our experts Jean Marsac and Martine Garreau from Paris joined. Yan Fei from Beijing represented UWEE.
The forum defined three cooperation directions, through the signing of the cooperation and the relevant agreement by SDU-ZB Biomedical R&D Institute, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lincoln University College, MAHSA University, Paris Descartes University, Paris Sorbonne, and Belarusian State Medical University, We will open joint education programs in the cooperative colleges and universities, joint development of pre-master degree and doctoral talents. Chinese TCM enterprises will set up TCM centers in various countries.
For the official announcement and more pictures: 191021UWEEMinsk
