300 Participants from 60 Countries Attend CCG Annual Forum

May 22 , 2025

Three-day forum co-hosted by CCG and CPAFFC brought together over 300 participants from nearly 60 countries to explore global governance, China-EU relations, and the evolving Middle East order.

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The 11th Annual China and Globalization Forum, jointly convened by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), and co-organised by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies (ACCWS) and the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), concluded successfully in Beijing after a three-day agenda from May 22 to 24.

The forum brought together over 300 participants from nearly 60 countries across five continents, including former policy-makers, ambassadors, policy experts, scholars, international organisation representatives, and media professionals.

Day 1

The opening session took place on the morning of May 22 at the Grand Millennium Beijing and was moderated by Mabel Lu Miao, Co-founder and Secretary General of CCG.

Welcome remarks were delivered by:

Henry Huiyao Wang, Founder and President, CCG

SHEN Xin, Vice President, CPAFFC

YU Yunquan, Vice President, China International Communications Group; President, ACCWS

James Chau, President, CUSEF; WHO Goodwill Ambassador

Opening keynotes were delivered by:

ZHANG Jun, Secretary General, Boao Forum for Asia; Former Permanent Representative of China to the UN

Kyung-wha Kang, President and CEO, Asia Society; Former Foreign Minister of South Korea

Declan Kelleher, Chair, Governing Board, European Policy Centre; Former Irish Ambassador to China

Following the opening, the first roundtable session titled “Renewing Global Governance and Multilateralism in Uncertain Times” was co-chaired by Henry Huiyao Wang and Mabel Lu Miao.

The session featured:

Mohamed Amersi, Founder and Chairman, The Amersi Foundation

Doug Bandow, Senior Fellow, CATO Institute

Franco Bruni, President, Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)

James Chau, President, China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF); Goodwill Ambassador, World Health Organization

CHEN Wenling, Former Chief Economist, China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE); Expert, CCG Academic Council

Alexander Downer, Former Foreign Minister of Australia

FU Chengyu, Former Chairman, Sinopec

Amb. HUANG Ping, Vice President, China-US People’s Friendship Association (CUSPFA); Former Chinese Consul -General in New York and Chicago

Christian Kastrop, Partner and CEO, Global Solutions Initiative; Former German State Secretary for Digital Society and Consumer Policy

Rashid Al Mohannadi, Nonresident Fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs

Rovshan Muradov, Secretary General of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center

Vladimir Norov, Former Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan

Daniela Schwarzer, Member of the Executive Board of Bertelsmann Stiftung; Former Director and CEO of German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)

SUN Jisheng, Vice President, China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU)

Konstantinos Tsalakos, Head of Content, Delphi Economic Forum

Loukas Tsoukalis, President of the Board of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)

Youness Zangiabadi, Executive Director, Institute for Peace & Diplomacy (IPD), Canada

Fabian Zuleeg, Chief Executive and Chief Economist, European Policy Centre (EPC)

In the afternoon, the forum continued with three thematic roundtables. The first, titled “US-China Trade War Narratives in an Era of Great Power Competition,” was held in partnership with the Asia Society. The session was co-chaired by

Henry Huiyao Wang,

Jing QIAN, Co-founder and Managing Director, Center for China Analysis (CCA) at Asia Society Policy Institute

Special remarks were delivered by:

HUANG Ping, Vice President, China-US People’s Friendship Association (CUSPFA); Former Chinese Consul-General in New York and Chicago

Kyung-wha Kang, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Asia Society; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea

The roundtable then featured contributions from:

Doug Bandow, Senior Fellow, CATO Institute

MA Jianchun, President, China Society for WTO Studies; Former Chinese Ambassador to Gambia

Mabel Lu Miao, Co-founder and Secretary General, CCG

Rashid Al Mohannadi, Nonresident Fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs

Emanuel Pastreich, Founder and President, The Asia Institute

Philip Pilkington, Chief Economist and Senior Fellow, Hungarian Institute of Int ernational Affairs

Ollie Shiell, Chief Executive Officer, UK National Committee on China; Executive Chairman, Asiability

Denis Simon, Visiting Professor in the Asian Pacific Studies Institute, Duke University; President, Alliance of Global Talent Organizations (AGTO)

Fred Teng, President, America-China Public Affairs Institute (ACPAI)

Andy Zelleke, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School

The second roundtable in the afternoon, themed “Reshaping Frameworks for Global Governance: The Role of China and the Global South,” was held in partnership with the Doha Forum. The session was chaired by Mabel Lu Miao and featured special remarks from Henry Huiyao Wang and Maha Al Kuwari, General Manager, Doha Forum.

The roundtable also featured contributions from:

Unal Cevikoz, Former Member of the Turkish Parliament

Khalid Emara, Former Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt and Former Egyptian Ambassador to Iran, Bulgaria and North Macedonia

LU Ruquan, President, China National Petroleum Corp Economics and Technology Research Institute

Rashid Al Mohannadi, Nonresident Fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs

Shaikha Al-Shaibi, Head of Partnership Planning and Evaluation, Qatar Fund for Development

Tobby Simon, President, The Synergia Foundation

SHOU Huisheng, Nonresident Senior Fellow, CCG; Director of the Center for Turkey Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University

ZHOU Taidong, Vice President, Center for International Knowledge on Development (CIKD)

The last roundtable of the day was themed “Maintaining International Regulatory Cooperation in A Multipolar World.” Held in partnership with the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE), the session was chaired by Zach Meyers, CERRE Director of Research.

Contributors included:

Thomas Becker, Head of Government Affairs, BMW Group

Timo Blenk, Partner and CEO, Agora Strategy Group

Franco Bruni, President, Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)

Christian Kastrop, Partner and CEO, Global Solutions Initiative; Former German State Secretary for Digital Society and Consumer Policy

Berthold Kuhn, Professor at Freie Universität Berlin

David Morris, CEO, Australia China Business Council (Tasmania); Nonresident Senior Fellow, CCG

Erik Solheim, Co-Chair, Europe-Asia Center; Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

Gerhard Stahl, Former Secretary General, EU Committee of the Regions; Visiting Professor, PHBS

Grace Sun, Strategic Marketing Head of Longi North America, Longi Green Energy

Day 2

On May 23, the Ambassadors’ Roundtable focused on the theme “Multilateralism in a Multipolar World” and was co-chaired by Henry Huiyao Wang, James Chau,

and Tammy Tam, Editor-in-Chief, South China Morning Post.

Contributors to this session included:

Rahamtalla M. Osman, Ambassador of the African Union to China

Marcelo Suárez Salvia, Ambassador of Argentina to China

Scott Dewar, Ambassador of Australia to China

Bruno Angelet, Ambassador of Belgium to China

HUANG Ping, Vice President, China-US People’s Friendship Association (CUSPFA); Former Chinese Consul-General in New York and Chicago; Former Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe

Dario Mihelin, Ambassador of Croatia to China

Stephan Grabherr, Charge d’Affaires of the German Embassy

Nicholas O’Brien, Ambassador of Ireland to China

Dumitru Braghiș, Ambassador of Moldova to China, Former Prime Minister of Moldova

Vebjørn Dysvik, Ambassador of Norway to China

Paulo Jorge Nascimento, Ambassador of Portugal to China

Marta Betanzos Roig, Ambassador of Spain to China

This was followed by a policy dialogue roundtable themed “EU-China at 50: The State of the Bilateral Relationship in a Changing World.” It was co-organised with the European Policy Centre (EPC) and chaired by Henry Huiyao Wang and Declan Kelleher.

Special remarks were delivered by:

Jorge Toledo Albiñana, Ambassador of the European Union to China

PENG Gang, Former Minister, the Chinese Delegation to the European Union

Contributors included:

Franco Bruni, President, Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)

CUI Hongjian, Nonresident Senior Fellow, CCG; Professor at Academy of Regional and Global Governance, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Daniela Schwarzer, Member of the Executive Board of Bertelsmann Stiftung; Former Director and CEO of German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)

SUN Yanhong, Senior Research Fellow at Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

SUN Yongfu, Senior Fellow, CCG; Former Director General of MOFCOM Department of European Affairs

Loukas Tsoukalis, President of the Board of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)

ZHU Feng, Managing Director, CICC Global Institute.

Fabian Zuleeg, Chief Executive and Chief Economist, European Policy Centre (EPC)

The afternoon was dedicated to the Middle East Forum, held in partnership with the Amersi Foundation, which comprised two sessions:

Panel 1: The Emerging New Middle East Order – moderated by Henry Huiyao Wang and Mohamed Amersi, Founder and Chairman, The Amersi Foundation

Panel 2: Key Challenges – covering three topics: Iran nuclear talks, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and state fragility.

The sessions were moderated by Henry Huiyao Wang, Mabel Lu Miao, Zoon Ahmed, Research Fellow, CCG,

and Mohamed Amersi, Founder and Chairman, The Amersi Foundation.

During the Middle East Forum, Mohammed Jawad Zarif, Former Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran,

and Husam Zomlot, Ambassador of Palestine to the United Kingdom,

delivered keynote speeches.

A written statement from Daniel Levy, President of the U.S./Middle East Project, was read on his behalf.

Contributors to the Middle East Forum included:

Vladimir Norov, Former Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan

NIU Xinchun, Vice President, Ningxia University; Former Director of the Middle East Studies Institute at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR)

Mohammad Al-Shammari, Chairman, Sumer Foundation for International Affairs, Iraq

Khalil Shirgholami, Deputy Director, Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), Iran

Karrar Albdeery, Vice President, Ghadan Foundation for Risk Management, Iraq

HAN Bing, Senior Fellow, CCG; Former Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the Chinese Embassy in Egypt

Mohammed Jawad Zarif, Former Foreign Minister, Islamic Republic of Iran

Ana Palacio, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain

Alexander Downer, Former Foreign Minister of Australia

SHOU Huisheng, Nonresident Senior Fellow, CCG; Director of the Center for Turkey Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University

Younes Zangiabadi, Executive Director, Institute for Peace & Diplomacy (IPD), Canada

Ioannis Grigoriadis, Associate Professor and Jean Monnet Chair, Department of Political Science, Bilkent University

Unal Cevikoz, Former Member of the Turkish Parliament

Khalid Emara, Former Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt and Former Ambassador to Iran, Bulgaria and North Macedonia

Yasmin El Eryani, Co-Executive Director for Knowledge Production, Sana’a Center

Seyyed Emamian, Assistant Professor, Tehran Polytechnic University; Founding Partner, Governance and Policy Think Tank (GPTT), Iran

HE Wenping, Professor and Research Program Director at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies (IWAAS), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

Zosan Alloush, Independent Governance Consultant; Chief Advisor, DeFacto Platform, Belgium

Akmaral Batalova, Middle East Expert, Kazakhstan

Milica Pejanovic, Former Minister of Defence of Montenegro; Former Ambassador of Montenegro to France, UNESCO and the United Nations

Nasser Hadian, Professor of International Relations, University of Tehran

In parallel, a closed-door roundtable under the EU-China Think Tank Exchanges project was held, moderated by SHEN Wei, Qiushi Distinguished Chair Professor at Zhejiang University and Nonresident Senior Fellow at CCG, and Victor de Decker, Research Fellow for the Europe Program at the Egmont Institute.

Chinese think tank participants included:

Henry Huiyao Wang, Founder and President, CCG; Former Counselor to China State Council

Mabel Lu Miao, Co-founder and Secretary General, CCG

SUN Yongfu, Senior Fellow, CCG; Former Director General of MOFCOM Department of European Affairs

WANG Yiwei, Nonresident Senior Fellow, CCG; Jean Monnet Chair Professor and Director of the Institute of International Affairs and Director of the Center for EU Studies, Renmin University of China

CUI Hongjian, Nonresident Senior Fellow, CCG; Professor at Academy of Regional and Global Governance, Beijing Foreign Studies University

SHEN Wei, Nonresident Senior Fellow, CCG; Qiushi Distinguished Chair Professor, Zhejiang University

SUN Yanhong, Senior Research Fellow at Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

WU Yan, Assistant Research Fellow at Institute of European Studies, China Institute of International Studies (CIIS)

ZHU Feng, Managing Director, CICC Global Institute.

ZHOU Zipeng, Executive Director, CICC Global Institute

EU think tank participants included:

Declan Kelleher, Chair of Governing Board, European Policy Center (EPC); Former Irish Ambassador to China

Fabian Zuleeg, Chief Executive and Chief Economist, European Policy Centre (EPC)

Almut Möller, Director for European and Global Affairs, Head of the Europe in the World Programme, European Policy Center (EPC)

Ivano di Carlo, Senior Policy Analyst, Europe in the World Programme, European Policy Center (EPC)

Loukas Tsoukalis, President of the Board of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)

Daniela Schwarzer, Member of the Executive Board of Bertelsmann Stiftung; Former Director and CEO of German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)

Franco Bruni, President, Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)

Aurelio Insisa, Senior Research Fellow, Global Actors Programme (Asia), Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)

Nicola Casarini, Associate Fellow, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)

Victor de Decker, Research Fellow, Europe in the World Programme, Egmont Institute

Ludovica Meacci, CSDS – PhD Researcher, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Miguel Otero, Senior Analyst, Elcano Royal Institute

Mario Esteban, Senior Analyst, Elcano Royal Institute

The day concluded with a closing dinner, featuring keynote remarks by Alexander Downer

and closing remarks by Henry Huiyao Wang

and Mohamed Amersi.

Day 3

On May 24, CCG and the Alliance of Global Talent Organizations (AGTO) arranged a field visit for over 30 international participants from nearly 20 countries.

Participants visited the CCG Beijing Academy, Beijing’s sub-centre in Tongzhou, including the “Two Zones” [National Integrated Demonstration Zone for Greater Openness in the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone] exhibition hall, and AGTO Beijing Office.

The group also visited historical landmarks in the Grand Canal Cultural Tourism Zone and the Han Meilin Art Museum. These activities provided international guests with insights into Beijing’s cultural heritage and openness, while also exploring opportunities for future cooperation.