CCG signed a strategic cooperation agreement with EU-Asia centre

On November 18 2019, EU-Asia Centre and Center for China and Globalization (CCG) signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Brussels, Belgium. Piet Steel, President of the EU-Asia Center; Rui Yan, Head of culture and education, and Miao Lu, secretary-general of CCG attended the signing ceremony.

At the signing ceremony, Piet Steel, Rui Yan and Miao Lu respectively introduced the work content and mission of the EU-Asia Centre and CCG. The two sides conducted in-depth and heated discussions on such topics as “globalization”, “global governance” and “Eurasian relations”, and found that they have a high degree of consensus on these key issues. The two sides stressed that the cooperation between the EU-Asia Centre and CCG will draw on each other’s advantages, promote the further development of Eurasian relations and contribute more high-quality ideas to international governance. The two sides indicated that the areas of future cooperation will include policy, economic, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, etc. Besides, they emphasized in particular that they hope to creatively build a platform of people-to-people exchanges between EU and Asia, in order to make up for the current vacacy of cultural exchange mechanism and realize the vision of promoting exchanges between Europe and Asia in various aspects.

Subsequently, Piet Steel and Miao Lu signed the strategic cooperation agreement as representatives of both parties. According to the agreement, the two sides will give full play to their respective advantages and carry out extensive cooperation in various fields to further promote the development of China-EU and Asia-EU friendly relations. Specifically speaking, after conclusion of arrangement, the parties will jointly organize two China-EU academic conferences every year; assist each other in carrying out academic activities, including but not limited to field research, study tours and internal training; undertake business and government delegations; hold art exhibitions; undertake performing arts groups and so on. In addition, the parties represent each other in its own region after conclusion of arrangement. Each party select a person/persons in charge as the representative(s) of the other one. Rui Yan and Wei Shen are the representatives of CCG in Brussels and Melbourne respectively. In the case of joint activities (such as conferences and other events), the parties will seek external funding. The external funding to be raised from public and private sectors in China and EU and should be transparently managed by both parties.

The EU-Asia Centre is an independent, not-for-profit think-tank dedicating to promoting closer relations between the EU and Asia. Established in 2011, the Centre functions as a knowledge broker, bringing together people and knowledge to provide current and comprehensive research, analysis and information on EU-Asia relations. As we know, the inexorable shift in the global balance of economic and political power towards Asia has profound consequences for the EU. There is a serious risk that Asia and Europe will drift apart, making it increasingly difficult to tackle global challenges. However, European expertise on Asia’s changing landscape is fragmented. The Centre aims to fill this void and establish itself as the leading, Brussels-based research policy think tank on EU-Asia relations, covering developments in Asia and relations between the EU and Asia. It promotes dialogue on economic, security, political and social issues, fostering informed decision-making in the public, private and non-governmental sectors. In the same time, the Centre also actively promotes people to people exchange between Europe and Asia, holding various exhibitions, cultural activities and seminars. In addition, the Centre not only publishes its own policy documents and organizes its own activities, but also devotes itself to creating shared research network of research institutes and think tanks across Eurasia and building an inclusive policy research platform. The goal is to provide guidance on Asia Pacific topics for business and governments, and to enhance the links among the policy, business and research communities in areas relating to EU-Asia relations.

As the main platform for the study of Asian and Eurasian relations at the EU level and the top 100 international social think tank, the strong alliance of the two parties will gather the advantages of both sides in Asian studies, Eurasian studies and globalization studies, so as to further promote closer relations between Europe and Asia. At the same time, through cooperation in various fields, the two sides will try to ease the separation risk between Europe and Asia and contribute wisdom and solutions to the transformation of global political and economic forces.