HNC 30th Anniversary Forum on Sino-Global Relations

An academic forum on Sino-Global Relations was held at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center June 18, bringing together experts from both academia and the private sector to discuss core issues at the intellectual heart of the HNC. The Forum was attended by an overflow crowd of alumni, students, and other guests taking part in the HNC’s 30th anniversary celebrations in Nanjing.

Professor Shi Bin, Academic Dean and former student of the HNC, opened the forum and introduced Nanjing University Vice-Chancellor Zhu Qingbao and Johns Hopkins University SAIS Dean Vali Nasr. They set the stage with remarks on the HNC’s role within the two universities that created the HNC and have nurtured its development.

Johns Hopkins SAIS Dean Vali Nasr gives introductory remarks

The first panel, on China, the U.S., and the World, provided both professional and personal views on how the U.S.-China relationship has been transformed and, in turn, impacted the world in the past three decades. Panel moderator David M. Lampton, SAIS Professor and China Studies Director, talked about relative changes in the positions of China and the US in terms of their global capacity and their share of world GDP, and how this impacts the current world order.  Amy Celico, a SAIS and HNC graduate who leads the Albright Stonebridge Group’s China and East Asia practice, focused on economic and commercial relations. She drew on her rich professional experience in government and the private sector to outline commercial challenges the two countries face today, as well as those they have met and overcome in the past. Professor Zhu Feng, who directs Nanjing University’s Institute of International Studies and the China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea added his insights on political challenges in the relationship, both those of immediate concern and historical importance.

The second panel examined issues of Energy and the Environment, with particular attention to how the U.S. and China approach the problem of finding and developing renewable energy resources. The panel was moderator by Peking University Professor Huang Haifeng, an HNC graduate who is now assistant Dean for International Relations at Peking University’s HSBC Business School.  He was joined by two distinguished energy industry experts—Mr. Zhu Gongshan, founder and chairman of Golden Concord Holdings, and Mr. Peter Li, General Manager of GE Renewable Energy Greater China.  They highlighted both the importance and the tremendous ongoing potential for collaboration between the United States and China in resolving important energy and environmental issues.

Panelists focus on Energy and Environment issues

The combination of industry and academic expertise on both panels led to broad-ranging presentations and a lively discussion between the panelists and the audience. Running through the presentations was the theme of the important role the U.S. and China play in shaping the current global order, and the need for the two sides to achieve understanding, if not always goal alignment, in solving many pressing international issues. As Amy Celico noted, HNC graduates of the past 30 years are now making important contributions to this process across a variety of sectors and issues in both countries and around the world.