Seminar held on China's global role

First international academic seminar "China's role in global governance system's reform" was held at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, on July 12 2014. [Photo by Nie Ligao/chinadaily.com.cn]

BEIJING - First international academic seminar "China's role in global governance system's reform" took place at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) on July 12 2014. Some well-known foreign professors from the US, France, Australia, Korea, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Israel, etc., and nearly 30 experts or scholars from some famous Chinese academic institutes, such as Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Renmin University of China and UIBE were invited and delivered speeches.

On the core topics of "whether the traditional global governance system led by the USA still works", "the abilities and problems of China in global governance", "great powers of global governance", "China's opening up to the world and global economic governance" and "the policy areas in global governance system's reform", the attendees took part in some exhaustive and enthusiastic discussions and debates.

Giorgio Dominese, a professor from Italy, pointed out that Europe should play a more important role in global governance, and the cooperation between Europe and China should be one of the pillars of effective global governance in the future.

Many scholars also talked about emerging countries' rise represented by China as an important reflection of global power in transition in the new century. Professor Yeomin Yoon from Seton Hall University in New York compared the relationships between the political systems and economic developments in developing countries. Focusing on China as an example, he explained to the scholars and audience present at the seminar that political power system with Chinese characteristics is the key point supporting and maintaining China's rapid economic developments.

When asked how China can take its responsibility in the current global governance, he said: "It is respectful that President Xi Jinping declared China as a responsible big country," adding that "the proposal of the establishment of Development Bank of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization by China is a decision that has great diplomatic wisdom, and is a very good example about the relations among the countries in the region." He concluded that China should communicate with countries around it and in other regions in the world in a relatively soft way.

About the problems China has encountered in East Asia and Southeast Asia, Dai Changzhen, dean of the College of International Relations in the UIBE, said that China will pay more attention to its own interests as its strength rises, and China's interests will become broader. The countries around it in the region need psychological procedure to accept this.

"China shouldn't keep the former policy of adopting a low profile to deal with the current and future international relations. By contrast, China should learn from the experience of international relations, persisting principles and using diverse methods to handle the relations among the countries." In addition, Dai also suggested China should develop people-to-people exchanges extensively, and he pointed out that China should manage a regional cooperation and governance win-win mode that maintains its own interests, and in the meantime takes account of other nations' interests.

The seminar was held by the College of International Relations of UIBE. It integrated the teaching resources from the summer sessions in both the UIBE and Renmin University, and is operated under the framework of international summer school in the UIBE in 2014. From now on, the topic "China's role in the global governance system's reform" will become an academic brand in the College of International Relations in the University, and will be held each summer.