After the first issue ceremony, the symposium officially began. The first sub-symposium was hosted by Dean QIAN Yingyi with the topic: China's economic development and reform in the new phase. Dean QIAN Yingyi raised three issues worth exploring: a reasonable range of adjusting economic growth forecasts and potential risks, the role of government in economic structural adjustment and the international competitiveness of China's economy. Deans and presidents from economics schools first made their own predictions on China's economic growth rates and stated that China's rapid economic growth will also faces enormous challenges. Dean REN Baoping from School of Economics and Management, Northwestern University believes China’s traditional drivers for economic growth including resources and demographic dividend are gradually diminishing, a new growth model based on innovation needs to be established. Dean of Nanjing University Business School, SHEN Kunrong said, in order to promote sustainable economic development, there has to be a favorable environment for scientific and technological innovation, and improvements on production efficiency through reforms. Southwestern University of Finance and Economics President ZHANG Zongyi expressed his views on the structural problems between the eastern and western regions, he believes that there are two potential opportunities for the economic development in the western region, one is to undertake the production capacity transferred from the eastern region; the other one is to enhance its own innovative strength. Central University of Finance President WANG Guangqian believes that to achieve industrial restructuring, first need to address the overcapacity problem, and then combine industrial upgrading with industrial transfer. Capital University of Economics and Business President WANG Jiaqiong stated that, cultivation of international talents is crucial to enhance the competitiveness of the Chinese economy. Dean XIE Danyang from Economics and Management School of Wuhan University proposed that, over the next decade, the government should establish 5-10 cosmopolitan cities, so that China can attract global talents. Dean TIAN Guoqiang from School of Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics believes that to establish a modern market system, it is necessary to resolve the dislocation of government’s role, so that non- state-owned enterprises and private companies can play an equally important role in the market.