Meeting President Xi Jinping and Understanding China
This week, SILK Ventures’ founder Angelica Anton met with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing alongside the Berggruen Institute’s 21st Century Council, before gathering in the city of Guangzhou for the fourth “Understanding China” conference.
The theme of the conference was what the Chinese leader calls “the new globalisation and China’s opening-up” and Angelica was invited to speak on the Belt and Road Initiative alongside the former Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou and former Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz, amongst other distinguished speakers.
In the opening remarks, President Xi framed the discussions on China’s economic development and global governance, saying that China has not only benefitted from economic globalisation but also contributed to it and is now ready to make even greater contributions to the world. He added that the country will stay on the path of peaceful development and opening up, and share its development dividends with all other countries.
Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico, urged the WTO members for joint efforts to protect the global multilateral trading system, stressing that “We are moving rapidly from a rules-based system into a system based on the force of power. And that, in other words, means the law of the jungle”.
Nathan Gardels, co-founder of the Beggruen Institute, argued that the new phase will be characterised by a “protracted duality in relations in which conflict and cooperation will coexist.” While the race for technological dominance will continue for a long time, climate change will demand common urgent action, he said. “Conflict is, therefore, as inexorable as cooperation is imperative”, he concluded, “and what this entails in practice is a partnership of rivals around the convergent interest of climate action.”
The conference was attended by representatives of international organisations, former heads of state and current politicians form 17 countries.