The 10th China Global Think Tank Innovation Forum Held in Beijing

Officials, diplomats, business leaders and experts from nearly 50 countries meet in Beijing to examine global governance reform, China–U.S. and China–EU relations, and new drivers of globalization.

On November 20, 2025, the 10th China Global Think Tank Innovation Forum, hosted by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and co-organized with the China Association of International Trade (CAIT), was successfully held in Beijing.

This forum attracted more than 200 participants from nearly 50 countries, including representatives from nearly 70 think tanks worldwide and nearly 30 Global Young Leaders Dialogue (GYLD) program delegates.

In the run-up to the conference, CCG also held a Global Young Leaders Dialogue Annual Forum the previous day.

A video recording of the event is available on CCG’s YouTube channel and official website. CCG has also broadcast the forum on Chinese social media platforms, where it remains accessible.

CCG will also gradually publish written transcripts of the event.

The opening session 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

• Chen Jian, Former Vice Minister of Commerce, Member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee

• Jin Xu, President, China Association of International Trade (CAIT); Former Deputy Director-Gerneral of America and Oceania Affairs Department, Ministry of Commerce

Following the opening, the high-level Opening Roundtable on “Global Governance and UN 80 Years—New Initiatives and Advancements” was moderated by Henry Huiyao Wang.

The session featured:

• Jorge Toledo Albiñana, Ambassador of the European Union to China

• Mohamed Amersi, Founder and Chairman, Amersi Foundation

• Bruno Angelet, Ambassador of Belgium to China

• Patricia Flor, Ambassador of Germany to China

• Tamas Hajba, Senior Advisor for China, OECD

• Khalil Hashmi, Ambassador of Pakistan to China

• Jin Xu, President, the China Association of International Trade (CAIT); Former Deputy Director-General, Department of American and Oceanian Affairs, Ministry of Commerce

• Eberhard Sandschneider, Senior Professor, Freie Universität Berlin; Former Director of the Institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations

• Sun Yongfu, Senior Fellow, CCG; Former Director-General, Department of European Affairs, Ministry of Commerce

• Selçuk Ünal, Ambassador of Turkey to China

• Wang Yong, Senior Fellow, CCG; Director, American Studies Center, Peking University

The session also featured input from GYLD delegate Anej Bevk Peternelj, Director of the Gajst Institute (Partner of the Young Bled Strategic Forum), who raised questions and shared his perspectives with the panel.

The forum continued with a thematic roundtable titled “China-U.S. Relations and Tariff Wars—What are the Impacts for the World?”, moderated by Henry Huiyao Wang.

The session featured:

• Laurence J. Brahms, Writer, Director, Producer, Shambhala Studio

• James Heimowitz, Senior Advisor, South China Morning Post; Former President, China Institute in America

• Jin Xu, President of the China Association of International Trade (CAIT); Former Deputy Director-General, Department of American and Oceanian Affairs, Ministry of Commerce

• Cameron Johnson, Senior Partner, Tidalwave Solutions; Former Professor at NYU Shanghai

• Roberta Lipson, Honorary Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in China; Founder of United Family Healthcare

• Marshall Mills, Senior Resident Representative in China, International Monetary Fund

• Jeffrey D. Sachs, Professor and Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Earth Institute, Columbia University (Online participation)

• Peter Walker, Co-chair of Board of Trustees, China Institute in America

• Wang Yong, Senior Fellow, CCG; Director, American Studies Center, Peking University

The discussion also included contributions from GYLD delegate Vincent Ibonye, Research Fellow and Deputy Head of the China Centre at Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and a PhD Candidate at Tsinghua University, who engaged the panel with questions and reflections on Global South development and the emerging international order.

In the afternoon, the forum continued with three thematic roundtables. The first, titled “China-EU Relations beyond Next 50 Years—Can Multilateralism Be Safeguarded?” was moderated by Han Bing, Former Deputy Director-General in the Department of European Affairs, Ministry of Commerce.

The session featured:

• Carolin Albrecht, Founding Managing Director, Berlin Global Dialogue

• Elisa Hörhager, Chief Representative, German Federation of Industry (BDI) in China

• Lu Ruquan, President, China National Petroleum Corporation Economics and Technology Research Institute

• Christoph Polajner, Founding Member and Vice Chairman of the Eurasia Society in Berlin, Germany

• Eberhard Sandschneider, Senior Professor, Freie University Berlin; Former Director of the Institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations

• Sun Yongfu, Senior Fellow, CCG; Former Director-General, Department of European Affairs, Ministry of Commerce

• Wang Yiwei, Jean Monnet Chair Professor of European Union Studies, Renmin University of China

• Zhang Yunqi, Vice President, Huajian Group

The discussion also included participation from GYLD delegate LY Quoc Thai, Policy Officer at the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Eurocham Vietnam), who proposed questions and shared perspectives.

The next thematic roundtable, themed “New Drivers of Globalization: Climate Change, AI, and Supply Chains,” was moderated by Zhang Wei, Deputy Secretary-General, Senior Research Fellow, and Director of Partnerships Department at CCG.

The session featured:

• Craig Burchell, Chairman, “Digital Maritime Silk Road 2030”, International Chamber of Commerce

• Michael Starbæk Christensen, Ambassador of Denmark to China

• Vebjørn Dysvik, Ambassador of Norway to China

• André Haspels, Ambassador of the Netherlands to China

• Thorir Ibsen, Ambassador of Iceland to China

• Ma Jun, Director, Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs

• Andy Mok, Professor, Beijing Foreign Studies University; Senior Research fellow, CCG

• David Morris, CEO, Australia China Business Council (Tasmania)

• Ravindra Ngo, Founder, the Asian Network

• Su Hao, Professor in the Department of Diplomacy and Founding Director, Strategic and Peace Research Center, China Foreign Affairs University

• Wu Yanyan, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Government Affairs, BMW Group Region China

The discussion also featured contributions from GYLD delegate Michelle Wing Sze Ng of Hong Kong SAR, China, Associate Fellow at the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and Yenching Scholar at Peking University, engaging with speakers through questions and dialogue.

The final roundtable, titled “The Rise of the Global South—Is Multipolar World or Divided World in the Making?”, was moderated by Zoon Ahmed Khan, Research Fellow at CCG.

The session featured:

• Ahmed Aboudouh, Head of the China Studies Unit, Emirates Policy Centre

• Mohamed Amersi, Founder and Chairman, Amersi Foundation

• He Wenping, Researcher, Institute of West Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

• Jing Yuhong, Executive Director of Shanghai Zhongyou Information Services Co., Ltd.

• Arun Mahizhnan, Special Advisor, Institute of Policy Studies, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

• Sougar Munkhtsooj, Founder, Institute for Policy and Leadership

• Danial Rahman, CEO, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute

• Krishna Raj, Professor and Head, Institute for Social and Economic Change

• Song Yaoming, Senior Fellow, CCG; Former Economic and Commercial Counselor, Chinese Embassy in Japan

The discussion also included participation from GYLD delegate Rabbia Nasir, Second Secretary at the Embassy of Pakistan in China, who engaged the panel with questions and contributed her perspectives.

As CCG’s flagship annual event for policy and intellectual exchange, this year’s China Global Think Tank Innovation Forum was marked by substantive discussions and focused dialogue. Senior representatives from the political, academic, business and think tank communities from around the world held comprehensive exchanges on issues such as reform of global governance, deepening innovation cooperation, building a multipolar world, the rise of the Global South, supply chain resilience, and green transition.

During the forum, Phoenix TV’s flagship interview program “Talk with World Leaders” conducted on-site interviews with Henry Huiyao Wang and Eberhard Sandschneider, Senior Professor at Freie University Berlin and Former Director of the Institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations.