150,000! – latest global download of CCG new book
October 11 , 2021
CCG’s new book, Consensus and Conflict? China and Globalization in the 21st Century has been downloaded 150,000 times within 17 days of its launch. It is notable for an academic publication on global challenges and governance to receive such a warm welcome.
Covid-19, the climate crisis, global governance and other challenges require us to reach a consensus about the future of our world, but the pathways to consensus and solutions to these challenges are still unknown. The recently released book Consensus and Conflict?: China and Globalization in the 21st Century brings together leading international scholars and policymakers to share their ideas and potential new policies on what this consensus should be and how it is the only way forward for humanity.
On October 11, the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and Springer jointly launched the book, Consensus or Conflict: China and Globalization in the 21st century for the first time in the world. During the launch, senior scholars from the UK, Singapore and China in international relations and research institutions, as well as MNCs, were invited to discuss recent developments and current trends in globalization.
Consensus or Conflict? is the first of the “China and Globalization” book series edited by Dr. Huiyao Wang and Dr. Lu Miao. This book series seeks to provide a balanced global perspective by gathering the views of highly influential policy scholars, practitioners, and opinion leaders from China and around the world.
Consensus or Conflict?, edited by CCG President Wang Huiyao and Alistair Michie, Secretary General of the British East Asia Council, collects the combined insights of over 30 well-known international scholars and policymakers.
[Book Introduction Video]
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https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-5391-9
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The contributions of these writers has resulted in a truly unique book. It is remarkable for such an authoritative group of essayists to come together to share new thinking about global governance that is relevant to current shared global challenges. CCG believes that, given the sentiments expressed by these essayists, and the turmoil visible in the world in 2021, the publication of this book is extremely timely. This open access book received a warm welcome by hitting 81,000 downloads within 15 days of its launch.
The 35 essays contained in this book were contributed by 38 well-known authors including Pascal Lamy, Joseph S. Nye Jr., Edmund Phelps, Lord Jim O’Neill, Wendy Cutler, Peter Maurer, H. E. Shaukat Aziz, Grzegorz W. Kołodko, Guangyao Zhu, Yafei He, Jeffrey Lehman, Denis F. Simon and 26 other authors.
William Achauer, Springer Nature Group, Business, Editorial Director for Economics, Political Science and Law, and Leana Li, Springer Nature Group, Editorial Director for Books, China, made the opening addresses for the book launch. William Achauer expressed his gratitude, as well as his congratulations, to the co-editors of the book, Wang Huiyao and Alistair Michie, for their achievement in putting this remarkable book together. He said, “They’ve brought together a dream team of top-notch scholars and professionals across the planet to share their knowledge and experience in this volume.”
William Achauer noted that the most single important issue the global community faces is the sustainable future of our relationships across the world, how a long-established superpower and a quickly emerging one can forge a positive relationship to cooperate across the entire developed and developing world, with a common mission to take on the real threats of building a truly global coalition to save the planet and to combat the menace of climate change, as well as developing and executing effective and smart public health measures to end the current pandemic and to prevent further ones.
Leana Li said that CCG is Springer Nature’s key book publishing partner in China. She noted that within just ten days of the launch of the e-publication, the book has seen nearly 40,000 chapter downloads. This is partly due to the technical accessibility of OA, but more importantly, the fact that this book focuses on hot topics around the world and organizes high-quality content from some of the most influential and authoritative authors into coherent and engaging chapters.
Leana Li also said that the world needs more practical experience and theoretical reflections from China in order to understand the real “China story”, and Springer Nature will continue to work with the Chinese and international academic community to promote discovery and help countries address global challenges.
The co-editors of the book Huiyao Wang, President of Center for China and Globalization, and Alistair Michie, Chair of CCG International Expert Council, General Secretary of the British East Asia Council, jointly launched the book Consensus and Conflict?.
Wang introduced that the 38 contributors of the book are from North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, covering every corner of the globe, and they come from a wide spectrum of backgrounds including politics, academia, business, international organizations, research institutions and educational institutions. “These elements have provided this book with a professionalism and practicality that makes it a reliable source for multiple viewpoints,” he said.
The 35 pieces in this book are classified into seven parts:
Wang told the press that another 12 internationally renowned leaders and scholars had given their endorsements for the book.
Sir Danny Alexander, Vice President, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and former Chief Secretary, HM Treasury, said that “Multilateral cooperation is critically important to address the many challenges we face, from tackling the pandemic, dealing with climate change and fostering sustainable development. This collection of essays is a very useful contribution for those seeking to understand our rapidly changing and globally connected economies and societies.”
Rana Mitter, Professor, History and Politics of Modern China, University of Oxford and author of Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937-1945, said that “This is an original, wide-ranging and stimulating set of essays. The relationship between China and the west is one of the most important in contemporary geopolitics, and these authors give us a range of productive and thoughtful ways to address its future.”
Sir Angus Deaton, winner of the 2015 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, wished “the book every success and hope very much that it contributes to a more balanced view of China in the world.”
Alistair Michie expressed his gratitude to the generosity of the writers that resulted in this truly unique book. He stressed that never before has such an authoritative group of essayists come together to develop deep new thinking about global governance that is relevant to current shared global challenges.
Alistair Michie introduced that unsurprisingly China takes a central role in many of the essays in this book, as China now represents almost 18.5% of the world’s population, this balance in the book is proportionate.
He said that “our writers also present generous data about global governance that provokes serious reflection. For example, when the UN was founded in 1945 the population of the world was around 2.5 billion. By 2021 that total is over 7.8 billion. However, of all the people living in the world today, less than 4% live in the USA, while no more than 10% of the global population comes from European nations. This explains why so many of our authors urge that global governance needs to evolve to reflect the views of the 86% of the world’s people who, so far, have had a very limited influence on the creation of the rules in today’s ‘rules-based world order.’”
“It is our sincere wish that some of the many ideas in this book may contribute to the genesis of new policies that deliver positive benefits to all of humanity,” he said.
During the launch, senior experts in international relations were invited to discuss recent developments and current trends in globalization.
Participants included :
He Yafei, former Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and Distinguished Professor, Peking University; Zhu Guangyao, former Vice Minister of Finance of China; Liu Yuanli, Executive Dean at Peking Union Medical College’s School of Health Policy and Management; Shi Yinhong, former Director of Academic Committee of School of International Relations, Renmin University of China; Pierre Krähenbühl, Special Envoy of the President to China and Head of Regional Delegation Beijing, International Committee of the Red Cross – ICRC; Wray Armstrong, Chairman and CEO, Armstrong Music and Arts; William Lindesay OBE, Founder and Director, International Friends of the Great Wall; Wang Qian, CEO of Hampton Group; Ted Plafker, Correspondent, The Economist Beijing Bureau; Zoon Ahmed Khan, Research Fellow with the Institute of BRI Studies at Tsinghua University and others.
He Yafei proposed that there is an urgent demand for new thinking, new ideas and new approaches facing the current challenges and changes at this conjuncture point. He is glad to see the publication of Consensus and Conflict? which affords some helpful suggestions from distinguished experts at home and abroad on China and globalization at the 21st century. The common thread in the book is that a consensus of building a peacefully developing, fair and just, democratic and liberal world pursuing the common values of all mankind. The authors of the book have contributed their ideas on the consensus’s content and the ways to realize it. “I hope and believe the book series would influence international public opinions and the restructure of world order actively,” he said.
Zhu Guangyao said that currently economic, climate and energy crises plus the raging Covid-19 have caused a major impact on countries and humankind. A systematic and sound policy package is needed to cope with the systematic crises.
Liu Yuanli regards the book as a significant success. Globalization brings us prosperity and new challenges, and also speeds the spread of new viruses globally. Liu believes that global coordination is needed to improve public health, “whether humanity can survive depends on our choice.”
Shi Yinhong congratulated the publication of the book. China-US relations takes a central role in many of the essays in this book. Shi analyzed America’s change of attitude towards China after Biden administration’s escape from Afghanistan, and pointed out that the US won’t alter the nature of its China policy, thus forming global consensus would be quite difficult.
Pierre Krähenbühl stressed that the ICRC was born in war and works in areas of conflict, thus facing the miserable results of conflict every day. “We are responsible for calling to more dialogues, consensus and actions to resolve conflicts.”
Wray Armstrong expressed his wish to introduce more Chinese cultural programs into other countries and more foreign cultural programs into China so as to promote cultural exchanges and the active impact of soft power.
William Lindesay OBE holds the idea that China should use social media to demonstrate itself to the world effectively, otherwise the wrong information spread online would lead to more and more misunderstandings about China.
Ted Plafker downloaded the book, too. He thinks the world is drifting towards a bi-polar one, and Covid-19 is exacerbating the worsening situation that blocks the mobility of individuals. He believes the book is very timely.
Wang Qian praised the book’s value as a milestone in the field of international governance and an inspiration to cope with global challenges. He suggests that cultural exchange alone is not powerful enough to enlarge consensus and manage differences, and thus numerous market players, including enterprises and entrepreneurs, should join in to promote investment and trade.
Zoon Ahmed Khan expressed her congratulations to the book and praised how it helps people to understand how to achieve win-win cooperation.
CCG hopes these endorsements from these distinguished scholars and policymakers would encourage readers to seek out the book.
[Book Introduction Video]
Download Book at Springer
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-5391-9
Browser, Download & Buy Book at Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com
