It has been 10 years since the central government launched the Belt and Road Initiative. The Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (HKIAPS) and the Federation of HK Shantou Community Organisations held the “Policy Forum on Global Chaozhou People and Belt and Road Initiative” at the CUHK campus on May 31. Fourteen overseas and local scholars led the discussions, which were joined by more than 400 who attended in person or online.

The forum had several guests of honour including Michael Wong Wai-lun, Deputy Financial Secretary; Guoyi Zhang, Deputy Director of Publicity, Culture and Sports Affairs at the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR; Xuezhu Wang, Vice-mayor of Shantou City; Professor Chan Wai-yee, CUHK Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Developments) and Dr. Winnie Ko, Chairwoman of the Federation of Hong Kong Shantou Community Organisations.

The forum featured two sessions focusing on how Chao Zhou people (or Chiuchowese) developed their social and business networks in Southeast Asia from a historical perspective and their role in the rice trade, dried seafood trade and sugar trade. The subsequent panels discussed Chaozhou people’s engagement in the Belt and Road initiative.