Make Innovative Development a Common Language for China-ASEAN Cooperation — A Review of the 4th China-ASEAN Industrial Design and Innovation Forum

Written by Guan Qiuyun / Translated by Chen Zhiying

No matter a desk, or a phone, the come-into-being of a good product is inseparable from good design. To explore the prospect of China-ASEAN cooperation in industrial design, the China-ASEAN Industrial Design and Innovation Forum was held from 2018, injecting strong impetus to bilateral cooperation in this field. Over the past four years, the forum has gathered the consensus of all parties and served as a good platform for China and ASEAN to carry out cooperation in industrial design.

On December 8, 2021, the 4th industrial design forum, sponsored by ASEAN-China centre and Liuzhou Municipal People’s Government and organized by Liuzhou Northern Ecological New District Management Committee and Guangxi China-ASEAN Panorama Group Co., Ltd., was held in Liuzhou, Guangxi. Government officials, experts, scholars, elites in this field and other representatives from China and ASEAN countries participated in the forum both online and offline to make speeches and provide suggestions. Adhering to the concept of “Innovation is the first driving force leading development”, all of the participants committed to making innovation and development a common language for China-ASEAN cooperation.

New chapter for China-ASEAN industrial design 

At present, ASEAN has put forward the ASEAN Declaration on Industrial Transformation to Industry 4.0, and China has also put forward the Made in China 2025 plan. Innovation cooperation has become the common demand and common language between China and ASEAN, and industrial design is an important path to realize ASEAN industry 4.0 and Made in China 2025.

On October 26, 2021, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang mentioned at the 24th ASEAN-China Summit that China is willing to explore industrial design cooperation with ASEAN and enhance the value of industrial manufacturing products through innovative design. Through this, we can see that industrial design will undoubtedly become a new hot area for China and ASEAN to carry out innovative cooperation.

Under this context, the theme of the 4th industrial design forum — “Assisting the Joint Construction of a Regional Center for China-ASEAN Science Innovation” fits with the trend. The forum aims to further promote industrial design innovation and exchanges between China and ASEAN countries, promote the in-depth integration and development of industrial design and other fields, build a cooperation platform for scientific and technological innovation, and look forward to a new chapter of China-ASEAN regional design innovation and cooperation.

“We will take this forum and the award ceremony of the competition as an opportunity, unswervingly take industrial design as a breakthrough in industrial transformation and upgrading, strive to extend the industrial chain, improve added values of the product, and strive to be the pioneer of industry in Guangxi with practical actions,” said Zhang Zhuang, Deputy Secretary of Liuzhou Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Liuzhou city.

Since the first industrial design forum held, ASEAN countries have actively participated in it and sought more cooperation opportunities through this platform. Sandiaga Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia, said in his video speech that Indonesia’s creative economy has great potential, but also faces many challenges. To achieve faster development, in addition to its own efforts, seeking international cooperation to realize linkage innovation and development also is the key. Indonesia looks forward to conduct more in-depth cooperation with China to complement each other and promote the prosperity and development of Indonesia’s “Industry 4.0” together.

Danuch Tanterdtid, Vice Minister for Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation of Thailand, mentioned in his video speech that after four years of development and precipitation, the industrial design forum has become a model of exchanges and cooperation between ASEAN and China in this field. Thailand will seize this opportunity to conduct in-depth discussion and cooperation on how the two countries can jointly realize industrial innovation and development and seek industrial development opportunities in the post-pandemic era, so as to achieve more practical results.

Writing a new chapter of cooperation

Industrial design should not only emphasize results, but also pay attention to sustainable development. How to harvest better results on the premise of stabilizing the current market demand in industrial design between China and ASEAN countries?

Tian Guanglei, Deputy Director of the Trade and Investment Division of ASEAN-China Centre, stressed that there is no ambiguity in innovation and development, and cooperation is the common aspiration of China and ASEAN countries. He said: “In recent years, driven by the ‘Made in China 2025’ and the ‘ASEAN 4.0’, design enterprises in China and ASEAN countries have accelerated their development, design industry has accelerated their aggregation, and innovative design achievements have constantly emerged, which have made positive contributions to economic and social development.”

Tian Ning, Level II Bureau Rank Official of the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said in his speech that Guangxi attaches great importance to the development of industrial design. He put forward three suggestions on the high-quality development of Guangxi industry, including: holding high-quality competitions to promote regional cooperation; seeking innovation in modes to promote industrial integration; gathering industrial clusters to extend and supplement industrial chains.

In the Section of Speeches by Masters, famous design masters and professionals from China and ASEAN countries discussed the current situation of industrial design, intelligent manufacturing and industrial development, as well as the development direction worthy of expectation, while the seminar section focused on the topic of “Industrial Design Empowers China-ASEAN Innovative Cooperation”.

“(We) should make design innovation a common language for regional cooperation and coordinated development between China and ASEAN countries, a common platform for building a manufacturing power and developing industrial ecosystem, and a booster for high-quality industrial development and strategic emerging industries in Guangxi,” said Luo Cheng, Founder, Chairman and President of Artop Design Group.

Chee Su Eing, President of Design Business Chamber Singapore, said that the design industry should not divorce itself from the masses and from reality and act blindly, but unite the strength of the whole industry and relevant partners. In terms of improving the efficiency of emergency management, enterprises should examine their own business strategy, value and operation mode, and explore their own driving forces, so as to take a place in the new era.

With fruitful results, the forum will usher in greater new opportunities

On the forum, the China-ASEAN (Liuzhou) Industrial Design Collaborative Innovation Center was successfully established, and a comprehensive strategic cooperation memorandum between Liuzhou and Shenzhen Artop Group was signed. It is said that the China-ASEAN (Liuzhou) Industrial Design Collaborative Innovation Center is a non-profit organization, with missions and visions to promote regional  cooperation in industrial design as well as exchanges and learning between the design industry of China and ASEAN countries, build a highland of innovative cooperation talents, incubating creative and innovative industries within the region, and create a common language for high-quality economic development between China and ASEAN countries.

In addition, awarding ceremony of the 2nd “Golden Bauhinia Cup” of China-ASEAN Industrial Design Competition was also held at the forum (hereinafter referred to as the competition). Design talents from China and ASEAN countries have showed up on this platform, and the award-winning works are rich and diverse, attracting people’s attention. Holding the competition regularly and continuing to support the innovative cooperation between China and ASEAN in industrial design will help to speed up the development of international industrial design industry, create an innovative atmosphere, scout for design talents, promote the commercialization of the achievements and display development results of Liuzhou. At the same time, it also helps to attract more excellent design institutions and designers from China and ASEAN countries to Guangxi for innovation and entrepreneurship, and promote the signing and implementation of high-quality projects.

It is said that most of the entries in this competition are intelligent equipment. Among them, the high efficiency TBM for coal lanes designed by Shenyang Innovative Design Service Co., Ltd. won the first prize of the product design group. Aiming at solving the problem of “mining imbalance” featuring “more mining and little drivage” in coal production for a long time, this product realizes a technical leap in coal drivage through the innovation in functions, usages and forms; The first prize of the conceptual design group was the planting kits (hanging flowerpot made into the shape of different faces) designed by Suphaporn Kunta, a student of Thailand Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University; Wuling for Artists designed by Gao Yunhui and Zhang Ziteng, students of Hunan University,  won the best design award of enterprise proposition group (Wuling proposition). With focuses on the needs of artists, the two students submitted their innovative work featuring “studio + mobile exhibition hall” for artists.

Industrial Design Forum is one of the important activities to promote China-ASEAN industrial design cooperation. The forum provides a mutually beneficial and win-win platform for promoting the in-depth integration of design, industry, science, technology and culture between China and ASEAN countries, which will certainly inject strong impetus into the high-quality industrial development of both sides. It is believed that in the future, through the common language of innovation and development, China and ASEAN will usher in more opportunities for cooperation.