On 16 March 2026, the Symposium on “Regional Coordinated Development and the Construction of a Unified National Market”, together with the 7th Joint Meeting of Directors of Institutes of Economics at Regional Academies of Social Sciences, was held at SASS. The event was organized by the Institute of Economics at SASS.
Professor Gan Chunhui, Executive Vice President of SASS, pointed out that the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee had mapped out a comprehensive blueprint for China’s economic and social development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Against the backdrop of the new era and the new journey, key challenges remain in deepening market-oriented reforms of production factors, advancing the construction of a unified national market and regional coordination, and facilitating the free flow and efficient allocation of resources across regions. He emphasized that isolated local exploration is insufficient to address issues of national significance. The symposium aims to bring together research from academies of social science nationwide, integrating reform case studies, governance experience, and grassroots practices, so as to better align think tank research with major national strategic priorities.
On behalf of the organizers, Professor Shen Kaiyan, Director of the Institute of Economics at SASS, extended her sincere appreciation to participating leaders and experts. She noted that promoting regional coordinated development and constructing a unified national market are key to removing bottlenecks in the domestic economic cycle, stimulating market vitality, and fostering high-quality development. The two are mutually reinforcing and closely interconnected. As research institutions within local academies of social sciences, they serve not only as observers of regional development and advisors on market integration, but also as bridges linking central policymaking with local practice. As part of the commemorative events marking the 70th anniversary of the Institute of Economics at SASS, this symposium aims to strengthen exchanges and cooperation among economic institutes across regional academies and jointly advance the construction of a unified national market and high-quality regional growth.
Professor Chen Jianhua, Director of the Department of Political Economy at the Institute of Economics of SASS, proposed that Shanghai’s strategic positioning should be understood within the broader context of China’s transition toward a new development paradigm centered on the domestic economic cycle, with domestic and international cycles reinforcing each other. Amid a changing international environment, Shanghai is positioning itself as a strategic link between the dual cycles and a hub for two-way opening-up. Leveraging the economic hinterland of the Yangtze River Delta region, the city is promoting regional division of labor and collaboration, facilitating the flow of production factors and the sharing of innovation resources, and improving the efficiency of factor allocation. Shanghai will introduce new measures to support Pudong New Area as a leading zone for socialist modernization, and will use the development of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone as a key driver of institutional innovation. Supported by headquarters-based, flow-based and service-oriented economies, it is building a hub for dual-circulation linkages and two-way opening-up, as well as a platform for coordinated development.
Over a hundred experts and scholars from 21 academies of social sciences across China, along with faculty and students from the Institute of Economics at SASS, attended the symposium. Participants engaged in in-depth discussions on topics including the construction of a unified national market, regional coordinated development, and the cultivation of new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions.
