David Gosset, founder of the Europe-China Forum [Photo provided to exploringtianjin.com]

David Gosset, founder of the Europe-China Forum and author of "Limited Views on the Chinese Renaissance" (2018), received the friendship award of Tianjin in 2015. He has conducted deep and insightful research on Tianjin's development. He talks with China Daily reporter Yang Cheng about his views on the city's steady development in the first half of this year.

Q: Tianjin has recently announced H1 economic development figures, which indicate that H1 economic growth hit 4.6 percent year-on-year, and economic development momentum has grown steadily and made solid headway. With the city continuing its efforts to pursue high quality growth, confidence in the local economy has been boosted and more factors to stimulate the economic growth have been shown.

How do you comment on the city's high quality development and its growth momentum?

A: Of course, growth is necessary and Tianjin economy is growing. But the question is what kind of growth? Tianjin has decided to focus on qualitative growth, on sustainable growth. I think this is a wise decision. And the GDP per capita is also a significant indicator. Well, after Beijing and Shanghai, in terms of GDP per capita Tianjin ranks third with a GDP per capita of more than USD 18,000 in 2018. 

I would like also people to look at the Human Development Index which takes into account life expectancy, education and GDP per capita. In 2017 the United Nations Development Program ranked Tianjin in the "Very high human development" category very close to the level of Beijing, Taiwan or Shanghai. 

Q: Tianjin has made great efforts to boost intelligent manufacturing industries and the companies in the sector account for 20 percent of local large companies. Their contribution to the local economy in H1 2019 accounted for 30 percent of the city's total. The figure kept rising with double digit growth during the period.

For example, the city has upgraded a number of local factories into smart ones and production lines into digitalized ones; it announced the world's first brain-computer interface chip, the Brain Talker; the world's first artificial intelligent heating solution has found a home in the city; and the first domestically made 64-core high-end chip born in Tianjin has filled the gap between the country and the world.

How do you comment on the city's robust development on intelligent manufacturing?

A: Tianjin has been a key factor for the industrialization of China in the 20th century. In the past 100 years, in the south of China, Shanghai was at the avant-garde of the country's modernization but the role of Tianjin has been absolutely central for the north of China's vast territory.

While the world is going through the fourth industrial revolution, Tianjin sees itself as an engine for intelligent manufacturing. This is the right vision. And the vision is already a reality. 

If you connect all the dots, you observe that Tianjin is gradually on the path of becoming a Smart City.

Each time I visit Tianjin, I learn about new developments in the application of Artificial Intelligence and this is of the highest significance. 

This year I attended some of the events of the Tianjin World Intelligence Congress. I am now convinced that Tianjin wants to be at the avant-garde of 21st century development and it has the means to achieve this goal. 

Q: Could you enlighten us on that how the city could better utilize its advantages in intelligent manufacturing to help it become part of a 'smart' Belt and Road?

A: I am happy that you mention the notion of a "smart" Belt and Road. Smart here means the combination of technology and the imperative of sustainability.

Tianjin is a port which has trade links with more than 180 countries and regions! It means that Tianjin produces but also is a transportation hub. By upgrading its manufacturing, by upgrading its logistics systems, Tianjin mechanically becomes a catalyst for the construction of a smart belt and road.

Q: Binhai New Area has become the economic engine of Tianjin during the past 10 years and this year it will embrace its second new decade. Could you give some advice for the new area on its development in the next 10 years?

A: Binhai New Area has achieved a lot. But, in line with what we are discussing now the next decades will be marked by the impact of digital technology on the industrial production. Two major elements will determine the future of Binhai.

First, the capacity to adopt the most advanced technology but also to contribute to technological innovation.

I am optimistic because one of the many strengths of Tianjin is the quality of the local universities.

As a visiting professor at Nankai university I have the privilege to interact with Tianjin's young talents, I know that they want Tianjin to succeed, I know that they want Tianjin to be open to the world, I know that they want Tianjin to innovate, so Tianjin's progress will continue to surprise us.

I wish here to share with you a story. I have the great chance to know Mr Romano Prodi, the former Prime Minister of Italy. He came for the first time in China in the 1980s.

At that time, as the president of the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction, known in Italian as IRI, he coordinated an industrial project in Tianjin. It was the predecessor of Tianjin Pipe Corporation, now the largest stemless steel pipe maker in China and one of the largest in the world. IRI had the same project in the Soviet Union. But although the project in the USSR began before the project in Tianjin the plant in Tianjin was completed much before the completion of the USSR project.

I share this story with you because I know it had a deep impact on Mr Romano Prodi's perception of China. This story is revealing: in Tianjin, in China, the speed of change is unique. And, yes, Tianjin might become a true smart city much faster than people think.