Formulating “Report on Inviting Professor Walter Ian LIPKIN, the Celebrated Virologist of Columbia University, to China to Help Fight Against COVID-19”

At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, BRI International Think Tank of CASS and RDI were keenly aware of the severity of the epidemic. On January 22^nd, 2020, the BRI International Think Tank of CASS and RDI formulated the “Report on Inviting Professor Walter Ian LIPKIN, the Celebrated Virologist of Columbia University, to China to Help Fight Against COVID-19” and presented it to the central leadership, inviting Professor Walter Ian LIPKIN to China for the joint efforts to provide suggestions on the responses to the epidemic.

In light of the time when the first case of COVID-19 appeared and the number of confirmed cases in China, the report analyzed the development trend of COVID-19 and its adverse impact on the global economy. It pointed out that due to the intensive population flow over extensive areas during the Spring Festival, it was imperative to curb the spread of the epidemic. NHC and local party committees and governments made deployments rapidly, rolling out a lot of effective measures to resolutely curb its spread. To fight and win the battle against the epidemic requires to pool the wisdom and strength of all social sectors and strengthen the mechanism for international communication and coordination. The report also included the academic background, research achievements and application, medical practices and social prestige of Professor LIPKIN, the well-renowned virologist of Columbia University, and expressed Professor LIPKIN’s hope to contribute to the prevention and control of the epidemic in Wuhan and help China quickly contract the epidemic.

On January 28^th, 2020, Professor LIPKIN arrived in China and met with Academician Nanshan ZHONG, Director-General Fu GAO, Professor Guang ZENG and Director Wenbo XU respectively. He was received by Zhu CHEN, Vice Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, and Guanhua XU, former Minister of Science and Technology, and had in-depth talks with them on the development and related issues of the epidemic. Professor LIPKIN also attended the Seminar on Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Responses to COVID-19 held in Sun Yat-sen University. Furthermore, he was interviewed by a number of media, including People’s Daily, providing scientific suggestions on epidemic prevention and control to Chinese experts in related fields.

Formulating the Report Entitled “Suggestions on the Prevention and Control of and Responses to COVID-19”

The prevention and control of COVID-19 is a new and huge challenge unknown to both China and the world. In order to safeguard long-term stability of the country and people’s safety, on February 9^th, 2020, the BRI International Think Tank of CASS and RDI organized domestic and international experts and scholars in economy, diplomacy, law, medicine, and biology, etc. to conduct in-depth analyses and study on the current situation, problems and trends of the joint prevention and control of COVID-19. The report entitled “Suggestions on the Prevention and Control of and responses to COVID-19” was thus formulated, which put forward 24 constructive suggestions in four areas: prevention and control of and response to the epidemic, epidemic prevention and control and Sino-U.S. relations, the development of SMEs and science and technology cooperation. The report has been approved and highly valued by the senior leadership, with relevant suggestions playing a critical part in securing a victory against the epidemic and economic recovery.

Formulating the Report Entitled “Suggestions on Improving the Pertinence and Effectiveness of Policies to HELP SMEs to Pull through”

On February 15^th, 2020, the report entitled “Suggestions on Improving the Pertinence and Effectiveness of Policies to help SMEs to Pull through” was formed by the BRI International Think Tank of CASS, RDI and Central Economic Committee of CDL.

The report analyzed the main problems faced by SMEs and relevant policies that had been introduced. To make the remedy policies more targeted and effective, the report proposes to resolutely increse Central Government’s coordinative efforts, give top priority to stablizing employment, provide remedies toindustrial chain and pool the strength of multiple entities, showing distinctive features of reform and innovation. In order to increase the pertinence and effectiveness of policies so as to help SMEs tide over the difficulties, the report puts forward five suggestions: 1) the Central Government should step up efforts to guide economic goals; 2) the Central Government should introduce nationwide policies in this regard; 3) efforts should be made to enhance the pertinence of remedy policies with stabilizing employment at the center; 4) establishment of a sharing mechanism among multiple entities and industrial chain cooperation should be encouraged; and 5) supply-side structural reform should be implemented to fuel production resumption.

The report is of great significance and has far-reaching impact as it has made the policies more relevant and effective, ensuring strong guidance for SMEs to pull through. The report received the approval and high attention from the senior leadership.

Formulating the Report Entitled “Suggestions on Policies to Implement the One Health Strategy in China”

In April 2020, the World Bank proposed suggestions to the BRI International Think Tank of CASS and RDI on implementing the One Health Strategy in China. The World Bank believes that China should take the long-term view to improve its ability to prevent “Public Health Emergency/Emerging Infectious Disease” while maintaining its excellent capacity to respond to “Public Health Event”. The One Health Strategy should be implemented from the perspectives of institutional mechanism, policy and regulation and technology domains to prevent the outbreak of new infectious diseases and similar epidemics. In light of the World Bank’s suggestion, these two think tanks drafted the Suggestions on Policies to Implement the One Health Strategy in China through further researches. The report elaborates on the general principles, project contents, development plans, implementation priorities, policy environment, capacity building and international development and cooperation for carrying out the One Health Strategy in China.