On 8 December 2021, co-hosted by the Municipal People’s Government of Liuzhou and the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), the 4th China-ASEAN Industrial Design & Innovation Forum was held in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Mr. Wu Wei, Secretary of the CPC Liuzhou Municipal Committee, and Mr. Zhang Zhuang, Mayor of Liuzhou, attended the event. Mr. Sandiaga Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia, and Mr. Danuch Tanterdtid, Vice Minister for Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation of Thailand, delivered video speeches. Mr. Tian Guanglei, commercial officer of the Trade and Investment Division (TID) of ACC, attended the forum and made a speech. Nearly 100 representatives from domestic design companies, universities, and media participated in the forum, and other 300 attendees joined the forum online.

Guests mentioned that industrial design, which connects the products and its users, not only bridges the transformation from technology to productivity, but also acts as the productivity itself to create values. As an effective way to develop new industrial products, increase product added value, establish independent brands and improve industrial competitiveness, industrial design plays an important part in promoting national economy. Innovation and development are the common aspirations of ASEAN countries and China. In recent years, China has actively promoted “Made in China 2025”, meanwhile, ASEAN countries have launched ASEAN 4.0. Due to the promotion of policies, design companies in ASEAN countries and China are able to quicken their growth, which has accelerated the concentration of design industry and the continuous emergence of innovative design products, and actively contributed to the economic and social development. It is believed that the China-ASEAN Industrial Design & Innovation Forum would serve as a platform, making innovation and cooperation the mutual aspiration and common language of ASEAN and China, in a region with great development potential in the world.

Tian Guanglei mentioned that Premier Li Keqiang of the Chinese State Council stressed at the 24th ASEAN-China Summit that innovation is the first driving force for development. Premier Li also proposed that China and ASEAN countries should explore and discuss the realisation of industrial design cooperation, increasing the value of industrial manufacturing products through innovative design. The industry would be more dynamic and the world would become a better place because of industrial design. ACC would continue to play its role as a bridge together with all sectors of society, and make unremitting efforts to promote ASEAN-China practical cooperation and empower the development of regional innovative industries.

Under the theme of “Assisting the Joint Construction of a Regional Center for China-ASEAN Science Innovation”, guests of the forum held discussions on how to accelerate the transformation and application of scientific and technological innovation achievements, in order to inject strong impetus into high-quality industrial development in the post-pandemic era, and increase the value of industrial manufactured products through innovation.