On the morning of 25 June 2021, a ceremony to celebrate the openings of the Cross-border E-commerce Demonstration Park in Tianjin and the Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park of Tianjin Open University (Tianjin OU) was held at the Saixiang hotel in Tianjin City.

Wu Haiyu, special commissioner with the Tianjin Office of the Ministry of Commerce; Yang Liu, member of the Party group and deputy director of the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce; Chen Jinhong, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee, and deputy director of the Management Committee of the Binhai High-tech Zone; Zhou Zhi, secretary of the Party Committee; Zhang Zongwang, president and deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Tianjin OU and  Liu Jinming, vice president of Tianjin OU, attended the event. Over 300 representatives of departments of the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce, committees and offices of the Binhai High-tech Zone, departments of Tianjin OU, over 80 enterprises involved in cross-border e-commerce, and 18 universities attended the event.

Wu Haiyu, Yang Liu, Chen Jinhong and Zhou Zhi jointly unveiled the Tianjin Cross Border E-commerce Demonstration Park and the Cross Border E-commerce Industrial Park of Tianjin OU.

Yang Liu pointed out that the Binhai High-tech Zone and Tianjin OU are strongly allied. He expressed the hope that the industrial park would seize the current opportunity to build a cross-border comprehensive-service system integrating six functions: industry training, employment and field practices, business incubation, office-sharing, industrial services, and supply-chain financing. It aims to provide benchmarks and a model programme to enhance development of Tianjin cross-border e-commerce.

Chen Jinhong noted that the collaboration of the Binhai High-tech Zone and Tianjin OU on these projects would help to build an ecological chain, leverage coordinated regional development, and bring together cross-border e-commerce enterprises in Tianjin, offering business incubation, training, supply-chain financing, import warehousing and transportation, live-streaming sales, and other services relevant to cross-border e-commerce.

Zhang Zongwang pointed out that the cooperation between Tianjin OU and the Binhai High-tech Zone will help implement the "Tianjin-Binhai" two-city development strategy of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, and promote integration of industry and education. The two sides will jointly build the Tianjin Cross-border E-commerce Demonstration Zone, a cluster of “digital economy” businesses with a focus on young people with practical skills. Tianjin OU will bring its own development in line with that of the city in terms of training, establishing benchmarks for cross-border e-commerce, integration and development of industry and education, and enhancement of the business environment.

Liu Jinming and Chen Jinhong signed the agreement on behalf of Tianjin OU and the Binhai High-tech Zone respectively.

Ping Fan, dean of the School of Cross-border E-commerce of Tianjin OU, and responsible for the operation of the industrial park, signed agreements to cooperate on the construction of a training centre with nine universities, including Tianjin Normal University.

The Tianjin Cross-border E-commerce Demonstration Park, also serving as the Industrial Park of Tianjin OU, is one of the municipal-level demonstration parks recognised by the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce and operated by Tianjin OU. It is the first time the Tianjin education system, or even the national open-university system, has participated in the operation of an industrial park. Tianjin OU, with the support of this park, will integrate education, talent and industrial chains with innovative cooperation among universities, industries, enterprises, governments and researchers to promote industrial innovation and serve high-quality social and economic development.

By Tianjin OU