Hosted by Renmin University of China (RUC) and Columbia University, co-organized by Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at RUC (RDCY) and Asia Society Policy Institute, "US-China University Presidents and Think Tank Forum" was held at Columbia University in the City of New York on September 26, 2017, With the theme of “China-US Relations in the Next 50 Years”. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong made a keynote speech at the forum.

More than 200 people attended the forum, including presidents from around 40 universities of US and China, and representatives from think tanks and business circles. Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University, and Jin Nuo, Chairwoman of the University Council of RUC, made welcoming remarks firstly. Josette Sheeran, President and CEO of the Asia Society, Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of The Blackstone Group, and Henry A. Kissinger, Former US Secretary of State and Chairman of Kissinger Associates Inc, made keynote speeches at the opening ceremony.

During the forum, Wang Wen, Executive Dean of RDCY and Debra Eisenman, Executive Director of Asia Society Policy Institute, on behalf of the two institutes, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Joint Research to Advance U.S.-China Cooperation on "Belt and Road Initiative".

This is the first MOU signed by the well-known think tanks from US and China on jointly advancing the research of the“Belt and Road”, marking the boosting of China-proposed “Belt and Road Initiative” and the major breakthrough of people to people exchanges between great powers. Furthermore, China-US common understanding and research on “B&R” is expected to promote their sense of commitment during the construction of the “B&R”.

As one of the earliest think tanks to conduct research on the “Belt and Road Initiative”, RDCY has paid field visits to more than 50 countries, making great breakthrough on the research, and more than 10 reports and books have been published over the past few years, which were highly valued at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in May 2017. Since 2015, RDCY has organized a number of think tank dialogue on “Belt and Road”with the US, Nepal, Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan and other countries.

Asia Society Policy Institute is a leading think tank on the “Belt and Road”research in the US, and has organized several seminars between US and China. Established in 2014, the Institute has long been committed to incorporating the best thinking from top experts to meet the challenges of regional security and sustainable development, and push to reach more consensuses on the issues of the Asia-Pacific region.

In the future, the two Institutes will strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of projects research and academic research, help make people understand clearly and correctly the important issues such as "B&R" and “100 Day Action Plan” and enhance think tanks cooperative research, so as to provide intellectual support for US docking China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” and seek mutual benefit and win-win cooperation between the two countries.