Mingde Strategic Dialogue: Chinese Modernization: New Drivers of Globalization

The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, and the process of globalization stands at a new crossroads. Over the past more than 40 years, China has integrated itself into the world and achieved self-improvement through reform and opening up. Chinese modernization has achieved remarkable success, profoundly impacting both China and the world. Under the new circumstances, Chinese modernization will continue to provide new opportunities, add new impetus, and unleash new dividends for global development. To this end, Renmin University of China invited experts and scholars from the international strategic academic community to visit China. Through field visits and in-depth dialogue, they will focus on common challenges facing China and the world, exploring how to provide new solutions and inject new momentum into global economic recovery and sustainable development amidst global change.

Host: Renmin University of China (RUC)

Organizers: Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY)

School of Global Leadership, Renmin University of China (SGL)

Date: Friday, October 17, 2025 from 14:00 to 17:20

Venue: Beijing, China

Format: In-person

Languages: Chinese, English and Russia (simultaneous interpretation)

 

Agenda

14:00-14:20  Opening Remarks

Moderator: Zheng Xinye, Vice President, Renmin University of China

Speaker: Zhang Donggang, Chair of the University Council, Renmin University of China

 

14:20-14:30  Remarks by Representative of the Delegation

Speaker: Romano Prodi, Former Prime Ministers of Italy, Former President of the European Commission

 

14:30-14:40  Research Outcomes Presentation

(1) Four new books release:

European and American Academics Perceive Chinese Modernization: Mingde Strategic Dialogue 2024

China in the Fierce International Competition: A Dialogue with 16 Renowned Experts from the US, Europe and Russia

Looking at China in the New Era from the World’s Perspective

Countries’ Compounding Development and China’s Competitive Edge

(2) Research report Certainty Amid Uncertainty: A Global Assessment and Future Outlook for 2050 (English and Chinese)

Presenter: Wang Wen, Dean, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY); Dean, School of Global Leadership, Renmin University of China (SGL)

 

14:40-16:00 Strategic Dialogue 1: “China's Economy and Global Development: Growth, Openness and Security”

Discussion Topics:

1. What are the new engines driving high-quality economic development in China? What facts best refute "Peak China"?

2. How have trade and tariff wars impacted the world economy and globalization?

3. What implications do the Chinese modernization and Global Governance Initiative (GGI) offer for global development and security?

Panelists (in no particular order, 7 minutes for each and then free discussion):

Grzegorz W. Kolodko, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Poland, Director of Transformation, Integration and Globalization Economic Research at Kozminski University in Warsaw

Daniele De Giovanni, Board Member of SEA S.p.A. and IREN S.p.A., Chief of Staff of the Italian Prime Minister (2006-2008)

Zhu Guangyao, Former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance

Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times

John Ross, Former Director of Economic and Business Policy for the Mayor of London

Yi Xiaozhun, Former Deputy Director-General of WTO and Former Vice Minister of Commerce of China

Vladimir Vasilev, Executive Director, The Northern Forum; President, The Northern Forum Academy

Uwe Klußmann, Historian, CEO of Klussmann Communication and Consulting

Wang Xiao, a political commentator with tens of millions of followers

Free discussion 10-15 minutes

Moderator: Wang Wen, Dean, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY); Dean, School of Global Leadership, Renmin University of China (SGL)

 

16:00-17:20 Strategic Dialogue 2: “The AI Era and Digital Civilization: Cooperation or Competition?”

Discussion Topics:

1. How can Chinese scientific and technological innovation, represented by DeepSeek, boost industrial development and better serve global development?

2. How can we break down "digital hegemony," bridge the global intelligence divide, balance national interests with global cooperation, and build a "digital community with a shared future for humanity"?

3. How can the international community better build an inclusive and beneficial global AI governance system and international cooperation, making AI a truly international public good that benefits humanity?

Panelists (in no particular order, 7 minutes for each and then free discussion):

BODRUNOV Sergey, Director of the S.Y. Witte Institute for New Industrial Development, President of the Free Economic Society of Russia, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Tong Xiaoling, Ambassador of the China Public Diplomacy Association

Francesca Bria, Advisor to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the New European Bauhaus, President of the Italian Regional Innovation Agency (ART-ER), a member of Spain’s International AI Advisory Council

Liu Qing, Vice President, China Institute of International Studies(CIIS)

Sam Daws, Senior Advisor to the Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative, Oxford University, and Director of Multilateral AI

Chen Wenling, Former Chief Economist of China Center for International Economic Exchange (CCIEE)

Haz Al‑Din, Executive Chairman, American Communist Party; Political Analyst, infrared

Liu Zhiqin, Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY)

Giorgio Prodi, Associate Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

Herta Manenti, Adviser and Researcher at Ward Research Institute, Italy

Free discussion 10-15 minutes

Moderator: Cai Tongjuan, Deputy Dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY)

 

International Participants

Romano Prodi, Former Prime Ministers of Italy, Former President of the European Commission

Grzegorz W. Kolodko, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Poland, Director of Transformation, Integration and Globalization Economic Research at Kozminski University in Warsaw

Daniele De Giovanni, Board Member of SEA S.p.A. and IREN S.p.A., Chief of Staff of the Italian Prime Minister (2006-2008)

Francesca Bria, Advisor to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the New European Bauhaus, President of the Italian Regional Innovation Agency (ART-ER), a member of Spain’s International AI Advisory Council

Brendan S. Mulvaney, Director of the USAF China Aerospace Studies Institute

Haz Al‑Din, Executive Chairman, American Communist Party; Political Analyst, infrared

Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times

Sam Daws, Senior Advisor to the Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative, Oxford University, and Director of Multilateral AI

John Ross, Former Director of Economic and Business Policy for the Mayor of London

Uwe Klußmann, Historian, CEO of Klussmann Communication and Consulting

Giorgio Prodi, Associate Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

Sergey Bodrunov, Director of the S.Y. Witte Institute for New Industrial Development, President of the Free Economic Society of Russia, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia

Aleksandr Zolotarev, Executive Director of the S.Y. Witte Institute for New Industrial Development, Executive Director of the International Union of Economists, Vice-President of the Free Economic Society of Russia, Russia

Mikhail Freydlin, PhD in Economics, Director of the Agency for Promotion of Economic and Social Development Programs of the Union State, Russia

Violetta Arkhipova, Senior Researcher at Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Economics, PhD in Economics, Russia

Nikolai Dmitriev, Head of the Laboratory "Modeling and Digitalization of Socio-Economic Systems" at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University; Associate Professor, PhD in Economics, Russia

Vladimir Vasilev, Executive Director, The Northern Forum; President, The Northern Forum Academy, Russia

Herta Manenti, Adviser and Researcher at Ward Research Institute, Italy

 

 

Chinese Participants

Zhang Donggang, Chair of the University Council, Renmin University of China

Zhu Guangyao, Former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance

Yi Xiaozhun, Former Deputy Director-General of WTO and Former Vice Minister of Commerce of China

Tang Xiaotang, Deputy Director-General, International Affairs Bureau, Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

Tong Xiaoling, Ambassador of the China Public Diplomacy Association

Liu Qing, Vice President, China Institute of International Studies (CIIS)

Chen Wenling, Former Chief Economist of China Center for International Economic Exchange (CCIEE)

Zheng Xinye, Vice President, Renmin University of China

Wang Wen, Dean, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY); Dean, School of Global Leadership, Renmin University of China (SGL)

Liu Zhiqin, Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY)

Cai Tongjuan, Deputy Dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY)

Wang Xiao, a political commentator with tens of millions of followers

Wang Qinghong, President of the East-West Philanthropy Forum, Executive Director of the China-Europe Philanthropy Innovation Research Center at Peking University