At the turning point of the structure of the world economy, there have appeared two trends in the current stage of, i.e. the regional economic integration and the economic globalization. Particularly in the recent years, the regional economic integration has been developing at a new, and higher rate than the economic globalization: it is in the form of FTA, tariff alliance and so on. It is now a common option for most of the countries in the world to enhance regional cooperation and achieve a “win-win” situation. In today’s world, new restructuring, new division of labor and new patterns have appeared, which exert an impact on the world as well as on China. Under such circumstances, how will China adopt a new thinking, active attitude and realistic tactic to accelerate the participation in the process of internationalization and regional economic integration, create and protect a good international economic environment? How will China break regional obstructs, promote the free flow of elements, and inspire the force to restructure to make a new leap forward for resource integration around or within a region, and play an active role in the process of regional economic restructuring? For China, this is an important strategic option to sustain a long-term revitalization and move forward with a big step. On the other hand, how will administrative leaders, think-tank experts and business leaders from around the world have a view and consideration on China? What will they request from China and what will they expect from China? This is a subject on which both China and the world are focusing currently.

Considering the serious issues mentioned above, the ”International Think Tank Forum 2004” (ITTF) would be held September 17- 18, 2004 in Shenzhen, China. ITTF 2004 is jointly being organized by China Development Institute (CDI), and Shenzhen Economic Daily and in strategic partnership with Dnm Strategies, Business Week and National Institute for Research Advancement, Japan (NIRA). The seminar titled “A Dynamic China and Regional Economic Integration in the World”, which will study and discuss the regional economic integration in the process of the economic globalization, make an evaluation on the role of China in the global regional economic integration after WTO entry, ponder strategies and ways for regional economic interaction and harmonious development of industries so as to grasp strategic opportunities facing China and make more contributions to a dynamic China as well as a dynamic world.

The International Think Tank Forum has been organized successfully for four sessions since 1999 with the focus on Asian issues. This year, the forum has some new characteristics. Firstly, more experts and scholars will be invited. Secondly, more business leaders will be present. Thirdly, there will be more political leaders from around the world, including some provincial officials from China, attending the forum. Fourthly, more special topic forums are arranged for international and domestic experts, scholars, officials and business leaders, which will make the various judgments and discussions more realistic and more pertinent. As a result, we believe that you will benefit from ITTF 2004 by participation and exchange of information with other attendees.