Weekly News Collection

ACADEMIC RESOURCES
Digitizing documents support social sciences

The Report on Digital China Construction and Development 2017, released by the National Internet Information Office on May 9, indicates that the National Center for Philosophy and Social Sciences Documentation (NCPSSD) has made prominent contributions to the integration and sharing of academic resources in philosophy and social sciences. 

Established based on the spirit of the speech General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping made to a symposium on the country’s work in philosophy and social sciences in 2016, NCPSSD is a national-level commonweal information service platform for philosophy and social sciences. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences led the construction of the center. It was officially launched in December 2016.

NCPSSD has rapidly developed in the past year. It has collected more than 16 million documents, including more than 2,000 premium domestic academic periodicals. The number of individual registered users is nearly 7 million, institutional users nearly 1,200. More than 15 million documents have been downloaded on this platform. In particular, the center is now used in more than 30 countries or regions as well as nearly 200 institutions abroad, greatly promoting the “going out” of Chinese culture.

GREATER BAY AREA
Building of Greater Bay Area in full swing
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will become a huge gateway and hub of Belt and Road construction, a world-class economic platform as well as a center for international science and technology innovation, based on its geographical, industrial and institutional advantages, according to the Annual Report of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Bay Area Construction (2018) released by the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences on May 11.

The report indicates that as the Greater Bay Area enters a phase of construction in 2018, priority should be given to the following aspects. First of all, it is necessary to strengthen the building of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Corridor as well as industries with competitive advantages. Next, a systematic talent-introduction mechanism and a proper talent cultivation and scientific research system should be established.

Also, upheld by Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao, the spatial layout of such elements as land, industrial chains and productivity may be optimized to enhance the coordinated development of other cities in the Greater Bay Area. Moreover, the construction of free trade zones and trading ports should be intensified to bring in high-end resources from abroad and push forward the “going out” of independent innovation achievements.

BELT AND ROAD
Institutional innovation needed to open up inland areas
Released on May 11 in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, the Annual Report on Silk Road Economic Belt (2017) focuses on the key points of the Silk Road Economic Belt construction and provides suggestions for national and local development.

The report covers such issues as the opening up practice in typical inland areas along the Silk Road Economic Belt. It proposes a co-building mechanism of the strategic hubs along the belt to collaboratively transition. Centering on the new model of opening-up system of western inland hubs, the report points out that inland areas need to innovate the opening-up system based on the principle of collaborating transition and openness, while establishing a hierarchical network public governance mechanism. It also analyses the development of western cross-border e-commerce as well as the necessity of building free trade zones.

(edited by YU HUI)