CCG hosts a Two Track dialogue on ‘reforming globalization’

China and Australia are crucial economic and trade partners with economies that very much complement each other. While the relationship between the two countries has gone through some twists and turns in recent years, things have started moving in a positive direction recently with friendly discussions on the ‘double-reverse’ measures dispute over barley under the WTO framework, and have come to an agreement. This embodies the spirit of mutually beneficial cooperation as well as a willingness and flexibility on both sides to repair and develop bilateral ties.

On April 29th, during a visit by a delegation from the Global Foundation to Australia to CCG, a joint closed-door roundtable was held focusing on the themes of ‘reforming globalization’ and the need for ’dialogue between civilizations’. The four sessions held during the roundtable welcomed over 30 participants from China and Australia with representatives from think tanks, leaders in business, and diplomatic envoys to China, who engaged in in-depth discussions on the most pressing global issues today.

CCG President Wang Huiyao and Ms Louise Watson, Chairman of The Global Foundation Leadership Team, delivered welcome speeches.

The first session focused on “The State of the World”, and was hosted by Steve Howard, Secretary General and Joint President of the Global Foundation, with keynote speeches delivered by CCG Senior Research Fellow Jiang Shan, Jean-Francois Di Meglio, President of the French Asia Center, and Dr. Miao Lu, CCG Secretary-General, covering major issues including post-COVID recovery, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and China-US relations.

The second session concentrated exclusively on climate change with keynote speeches delivered by Oliver Morriss, Senior Analys at Aviva Investors, CCG Deputy Director Gao Zhikai, Mr. Anthony Coles, Executive Director at the Australia China Business Council (ACBC), and Ms. Grace Fan, International Partner at King & Wood Mallesons. These and other distinguished guests reaffirmed the significance of this topic and generally agreed that working together is to the common benefit of all countries, calling on all parties to take concrete action.

During the third session, H.E. Mr. Graham Fletcher, the Australian Ambassador to China, H.E. Mr. Zhang Junsai, former Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Mr. David Olsson, President of the Australia China Business Council, CCG Senior Fellow and former Deputy Representative of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva Mr. Zhou Xiaoming, shared their respective views on the current state and future of China-Australia relations.