1. What is the full name of the forum?

A: The full name of the forum is Hongqiao International Economic Forum, abbreviated as HQF.

2. What is the background and purpose of the forum?

A: The Hongqiao International Economic Forum (HQF) is held concurrently with the China International Import Expo (CIIE) and has been successfully held for six consecutive years. The HQF includes the main forum (the opening ceremony of the CIIE and the HQF), several parallel sessions, and closed-door meetings, among other activities. Since its inception in 2018, President Xi Jinping has delivered speeches or addressed the opening ceremony of the CIIE and the HQF for five consecutive years and sent a letter to the 6th CIIE.

The HQF focuses on promoting global openness, improving global economic governance, and fulfilling the role of international public goods. It concentrates on hot topics of global open development, building a high-end dialogue and exchange platform for the international political, business, academic, and media communities, and gathering global consensus for the construction of an open world economy and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Since the fourth session, the flagship report of the HQF, the World Openness Report, and its core innovative product, the World Openness Index, were released three years in a row. It strives to create a weathervane for the world's common openness, a barometer for China's high-level openness, and an authoritative brand for the HQF.

3. What is the overview of the 6th Hongqiao International Economic Forum?

A: The 6th HQF, themed “Joining Hands in Development, Opening-up for the Future”, was held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) on November 5th to 6th, 2023. It featured the main forum (the opening ceremony of the CIIE and the HQF), activities related to “Invest in China Year”, and 22 parallel sessions, which included the Press Release and International Symposium on World Openness Report 2023 (the latest World Openness Index was released), and parallel sessions under Opening-up for Development, Opening-up for Cooperation, Opening-up for Innovation and Opening-up for Sharing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a letter to the 6th CIIE. Premier Li Qiang attended the opening ceremony of the 6th CIIE and the HQF in Shanghai, and delivered a keynote speech. Leaders from relevant countries and heads of international organizations, as well as representatives from the political, business, and academic sectors of 154 countries, regions, and international organizations, attended the opening ceremony, with approximately 1500 attendees.

345 guests delivered speeches and participated in discussions at the parallel sessions of the 6th HQF, including 8 officials at the vice-presidential level or above, 68 officials at the provincial and ministerial level, 6 Nobel Prize and Turing Award winners, 8 academicians (Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), 22 renowned experts and scholars, and 118 executives from Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders. Seven well-known international organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the United Nations Global Compact, the International Trade Centre, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the International Labor Organization, co-hosted the parallel sessions. The total number of participants in the 6th HQF exceeded 8,000.