AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's innovation-driven economic development in recent years received high attention in the first NEXT Summit held in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, on Monday.
China's high-speed railway network, e-commerce, new energy products, and bicycle sharing were hot topics in the summit where some 400 delegates from the academic and business circles discussed international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China in 2013.
Sun Zhuangzhi, deputy director of the Institute of Sociology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the summit that China is "the most successful practitioner and the biggest beneficiary of innovation-driven growth."
Yang Yong of the Caroline Sunrise Cruise introduced the idea of combining cruise tourism with the pension industry, which will help Chinese elders to reach out to the world.
At the summit, many Chinese enterprises and universities signed memorandums of cooperation with their New Zealand counterparts in fields such as education and tourism.
New Zealand companies have expressed their hope of enhancing cooperation with Chinese enterprises on innovative development.
Sun said that with the progress of the Belt and Road Initiative, innovation-driven growth will first bring benefits to countries along the route and help boost the transformation and development of their economies.
"The solution offered by China will create a new opportunity for the entire Asia-Pacific economy," he said.
The NEXT Summit, organized by the Oceania Silk Road Network along with New Zealand Green Industry Association and New Zealand Chinese Scientists Association, aims to promote international resource mobilization and capacity building through innovative cooperation among countries and regions, deepen international trade cooperation, and promote sustainable development.
