On 8 December 2016, the NISCSS holds the two-day Symposium on the Belt and Road Initiative and Common Development of the Greater South China Sea Region in Haikou, Hainan Province, bringing together over fifty experts, scholars and officials from think tanks, research institutions and government agencies in Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Portugal, England, Australia and China (including Taiwan).

The six topics under discussion include: the Status of the South China Sea in the “Belt and Road”Strategy; Sustainable Management of Marine Living Resources; Sustainable Development of Marine Non-living Resources; Common Development of Pan-South China Sea and Role of Hainan; Sea Ports and Connectivity; and Maritime Security and Sea Lanes of Communication.  

During his keynote speech at the opening ceremony, NISCSS President Wu Shicun summarizes the new developments of the situation in the South China Sea in the wake of the arbitration into four phrases: cooling down, gradual détente, return to normal track and cooperation. As Wu points out, it is a pressing issue to expand regional cooperation against the backdrop of rising anti-globalization and protectionism tides. In order to maintain the good momentum of the situation in the South China Sea, we should explore how to build a cooperation mechanism as an artery or mainstay of regional cooperation in the South China Sea.

During his keynote speech entitled “The Belt and Road Initiative: Rebalance of Economy and Strategy,” Zheng Yongnian, director of East Asian Institute at National University of Singapore, remarks that the U.S. pivot to Asia-Pacific region has led to strategic imbalance among Asian countries. He points out that this strategy is not able to strike a balance between economy and defense, but places too much emphasis on the military factors, which constitutes a serious challenge to the Asian peace and trade relations between China and the ASEAN. He also interprets the Belt and Road initiative from the Chinese version of "rebalancing".

This symposium comes amid a situation when the South China Sea issue is growingly multilateralized and internationalized, and is designed to promote interaction and cooperation in the greater South China Sea region, find a breakthrough in building maritime silk road, and further tap the important potential of Hainan Province in regional cooperation mechanisms.