The Third Global South Think Tanks Dialogue opened on Wednesday in Shanghai, gathering more than 200 delegates from countries in the Global South for discussions on national development.
The attendees were invited on field trips around Shanghai to see first-hand the progress that China has made in sci-tech innovation, grassroots governance and urban construction.
At a visit to an integrated service platform for humanoid robot innovation, incubation, and collaboration, delegates interacted with different robotics products.
"To see such developments in China is very exciting for us, so I plan to bring this experience and what I've seen here back home and to discuss with my colleagues, with certain people how China managed to develop this sector, and how my country, Azerbaijan, can cooperate with China to get enough experience," said Shahmar Hajiyev, head of the department for diplomatic policies at Azerbaijan’s Center of Analysis of International Relations.
Another field visit saw delegates attending a citizen center in Shanghai’s Changning District.
"China goes extraordinary length to solicit opinion from the citizens. So when the final legislation is adopted, it really reflects the sentiments and the real aspirations of the people of China. The Chinese say that crossing the river by feeling the stones, and I think it is a great inspiration to all the developing countries around the world to learn from China the universal features of modernization, and then adapt those lessons to develop their own unique path to development," said Syed Muhammad Sardar Ali, chairman of the Pakistan Crescent Foundation.
Another field trip took delegates to the Shanghai People's City Practice Exhibition Hall to learn more about the city.
"It's an outstanding and astonishing development pace I visited. I am also came across the idea of the future city about Shanghai and the current development pace. It is aiming for the development model and it will help countries like Bangladesh and all the other developing countries," said Nahiyan Shajid Khan, a researcher at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies.
"I have been studying China's politics and society for quite a long time and I find that China is making such a progress in terms of development. And I understand that China can be a role model to be emulated by other developing countries," said Nur Rachmat Yuliantoro, dean of the Faculty of International Relations at Gachamadal University in Indonesia.
Global South think tanks meet in Shanghai as delegates explore Chinese modernization
