Economic globalization has faced strong headwinds in the recent years marked by challenges ranging from rapid technological change, increasing extreme climate events, vulnerable supply chains, to widening inequality and intensifying geopolitical friction. Today’s global trading system, as exemplified by the World Trade Organization, has come under assault from many directions and for many reasons. The 13th WTO ministerial conference is fast approaching in February of 2024 with a packed agenda, including proposals to revitalize the multilateral institution.

The year 2024 with the consequential US presidential election will likely further compound the question over WTO’s viability. As world leaders are talking about reforming the WTO, what are the prospects for change? How will the multilateral body move forward its modernization agenda at a time when trade policy tensions are on the rise and fragmentation along geopolitical fault lines is finding its way into trading blocs? What role will China play in revitalizing multilateral trade?

On 13 December, the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) will present a global dialogue series featuring the visiting former Director-General of WTO Mr. Pascal Lamy. Mr. Lamy and his interlocutors who are China’s top international trade experts will bring their unique perspectives on the challenges facing the global trading system and their impacts on the world in 2024 and beyond.

When:

15:00-16:30 Wednesday 13 December 2023

Broadcast:

15:00-16:30 Thursday 14 December 2023

Baidu live:

https://live.baidu.com/m/media/multipage/liveshow/index.html?room_id=8814547486&source=h5pre

Language:

English

Agenda

14:30 Arrival of guests, networking

15:00 Welcome and introduction

15:05 Feature presentation “What role will the EU and China play in revitalizing multilateral trade?” by Mr. Pascal Lamy, former Director-General, WTO

15:20 Dialogue with Mr. Pascal Lamy hosted by Dr. WANG Huiyao, President, CCG

15:55 Comments and discussion

16:15 Q&A

16:30 Event adjourns

Discussants:

SUN Yongfu, CCG Senior Fellow, former MOFCOM Director-General of European Affairs

JI Wenhua, Professor at School of Law, University of International Business and Economics (UIBE)

LI Siqi, Associate Professor at China Institute for WTO Studies, University of International Business and Economics (UIBE)

Speakers

Pascal Lamy (pascallamy.eu) is Vice-President of the Paris Peace Forum and President of the European branch of the Brunswick Group. He coordinates the Jacques Delors Institutes (Paris, Berlin, Brussels).

He is also President or member of various boards with a global, European or French vocation (European Starfish Mission (ocean), Mo Ibrahim Foundation, European Climate Foundation, IFPRI, PECC, CERRE, TMEA, Antarctica 2020, UNOC 2025 preparation, Transparency International, Alpbach Forum, Beijing Forum, World Trade Forum, WEF, Global Risks, Europaeum, Collegium international, Musiciens du Louvre, Institut Mendes-France, Fondation Colbert, etc.).

He is an affiliated professor at the China Europe International Business School CEIBS (Shanghai) and at HEC (Paris).

From 2005 to 2013, Pascal Lamy served two consecutive terms as Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Previously, he was Trade Commissioner (1999-2004), Director General of Crédit Lyonnais (1994-1999), Director of Cabinet of European Commission President Jacques Delors and his G7 Sherpa (1985-1994), Deputy Director of Cabinet of the French Prime Minister (1983-1985) and of the French Minister of Economy and Finance (1981-1983).

Last publication “Strange new world” (Odile Jacob 2020), “Où va le monde?” (Odile Jacob 2018).

Dr. Henry Huiyao Wang is Founder and President of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG). He was a Counselor to the China State Council and a Vice Chairman of China Association for International Economic Cooperation (CAIEC). He holds the position of Vice Chairman at China Public Relations Association and serves as a Director of Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs. He is the Vice Chairman of China Association for International Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce. Dr. Henry Huiyao Wang is a Professor and Dean of the Institute of Development at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in China. He was a Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and was a Visiting Fellow at Brookings Institution. Dr. Huiyao Wang has engaged in dialogues with nearly a hundred international opinion leaders in recent years and has been frequently invited to attend world-renowned forums such as the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, the Munich Security Conference, and the Davos Forum, etc.. He is a Steering Committee Member of Paris Peace Forum and the editor of Springer-Nature China and Globalization Series. He has published over 100 books in English and Chinese along with hundreds of journal articles and opinion pieces on global relations, global governance, global migration, China outbound and inbound investment and trade, Chinese Diasporas and Chinese think tanks.

CCG Global Dialogue

“CCG Global Experts Dialogue” is a series of events initiated by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) in November 2020. The series aims to explore innovative international communication methods by facilitating in-depth discussions and live broadcasts available around the world, creating a new bridge for communication with China. The Global Experts Dialogue series adheres to the principles of rationality, objectivity, and constructiveness, inviting international opinion leaders, renowned scholars, and political influencers in the fields of international politics and economics to explore topics related to the current state of and China’s role in the globalization process.

Since the launch of this series in November 2020, CCG Chairman Dr. Wang Huiyao and CCG other experts have engaged in in-depth dialogues with over twenty internationally renowned opinion leaders, including Pascal Lamy, Thomas Friedman, John Thornton, Martin Wolf, Susan Thornton, Graham Allison, Joseph Nye, Angus Deaton, Wendy Cutler, Neil Bush, John Hamre, Adam Posen, J. Stapleton Roy, David M. Lampton, Stephen Roach, Lord Jim O’Neill,William Kirby, Arancha Gonzalez and many other senior policy makers, renowned think tank researchers, notable China experts, prominent media figures, and columnists.