2026 Think Tank Forum on China’s Important Gateway for Opening Up to the North Held in Hohhot

On September 18, the 2026 Think Tank Forum on China’s Important Gateway for Opening Up to the North was held in Hohhot. Hosted by the People’s Government of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and co-organized by the Foreign Affairs Office of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences, the forum brought together more than 100 experts and scholars from China and overseas.

Liu Yubiao, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, presided over the opening ceremony. Pang Hui, Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, delivered a speech on behalf of Su He, Vice Chairman of the People’s Government of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Guests who attended and addressed the opening ceremony included Munkherel Chimedtser, Director of the Translation Research Center at the Confucius Institute of the National University of Mongolia; Li Yongsheng, Vice President of the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences; Victoria Namzhilova, a researcher at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Guo Zhouming, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Commerce of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; and Olesia Rubo, Vice Dean for Research at the School of International Relations, Belarusian State University.

During the keynote session, six Chinese and foreign scholars delivered thematic presentations. The speakers were Xu Poling, Director of the Russian Economic Studies Section at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Vladimir Datsyshin, Professor at Siberian Federal University, Russia; D. Otgonsuren, Director of the Administrative Committee of the Nalaikh Free Economic Zone, Ulaanbaatar; Wu Chuke, Professor at Minzu University of China; Ruslan Yesin, Head of the China Comprehensive Development Department at the School of International Relations, Belarusian State University; and Farida Olazhakyz, Head of the Sinology Department at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. Their presentations covered topics including new developments in Russia’s economy, regional cooperation, the current state of special economic zones in Mongolia, and approaches to developing China’s pilot free trade zones.

Three parallel sub-forums were held under the following themes:

China’s Pilot Free Trade Zones and Institutional Opening Up

Advancing Pilot Free Trade Zone Development through Regional Cooperation

China’s Pilot Free Trade Zones and the Modernization of Border Provinces and Autonomous Regions

Experts and scholars exchanged views and held in-depth discussions during the sessions. (Story by the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences)