By Brendan John Worrell (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-04-28 15:56

Distinguished overseas Chinese experts gather for the Inaugural opening of the Haikou Overseas Think Tank Conference at HNA New State Guesthouse, Haikou, April 28. [Brendan John Worrell/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Inaugural opening of the Haikou Overseas Think Tank Conference took place Sunday evening to coincide with the 20th anniversary celebrations for the formation of Hainan Province as a special economic zone.

Dr Wu Zhishen, professor at the Department of Urban and Civil Engineering at Ibaraki University.  [Brendan John Worrell/chinadaily.com.cn]

An initial 37 distinguished overseas Chinese were invited to spearhead the strategic direction of the island capital and lend their expertise to the wider island's capacity. Members came from such diverse fields as finance, science, environment and engineering.

One of the participants in the workshop, Dr Wu Zhishen, the previous day was carrying the Olympic Torch in Nagano as it made its way through Japan. Professor at the Department of Urban and Civil Engineering at Ibaraki University in an interview with China Daily he spoke of his desire to see Haikou and Hainan trying more to embrace cutting edge technologies, particularly in the field of green energy.

This theme of being able to balance the island's development, while at the same time preserving the environment, was frequently mentioned by participants at the launch.

Professor Wu commented that there was an abundance of Chinese experts working abroad in industries strategically beneficial for the island. He believed by drawing in this 'collective brain weight' there was a greater chance to reach desired levels of development and prosperity. At the same time negative impacts such as pollution and degradation could be side- stepped.

Chen Ci, member of the Standing Committee of Hainan Provincial Party Committee and secretary of Haikou municipal Party committee. [Brendan John Worrell/chinadaily.com.cn]

He mentioned that while delivering lectures here to locals last September he met Jerry Yan who works at the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences and previously sat on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Through their discussions they noted how beneficial it would be to pool this wealth of World Class Chinese minds.

Contextualizing the launch of the Think Tank with the surrounding 20 year celebrations of Hainan as a province, Mr Chen Ci, member of the Standing Committee of Hainan Provincial Party Committee and secretary of Haikou municipal Party committee reiterated the government's goals for the following two decades.

"For the environment I hope it will be preserved as it is. Because I know in the next 20 years, urbanization and industrialization - the pace will be faster. But I hope this will not leave any negative effect on the environment we have now."