Lecture
China’s Future Role in Global Economic Governance
- Date
- Thursday 21 November 2019
- Time
- Location
- Nieuwspoort
Lange Poten 10
2511CL The Hague
Tickets
Free of charge, but registration through this website is mandatory.
Description
On November 21st, the LeidenAsiaCentre, in close cooperation with Chatham House, organises a public round table event on what to expect in the future of China’s role in global economic governance. During this event, several experts will build on their expertise to discuss this issue among each other and with the audience. Some of the questions that are central to these discussions are:
- How have China’s institutional needs shifted as its economic needs and political ambitions grow?
- How can western-led multilateral economic institutions effectively transform their relationship with a rising China?
- Can China fulfill the role of a responsible leader of global economic governance?
The speakers are: Bert Hofman (Former World Bank Country Director for China; East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore), Huang Yanzhong (Council on Foreign Relations; Seton Hall University’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations), Mike Sampson (Leiden University) and Wang Jue (Leiden University; Chatham House). The roun dtable will be chaired by Champa Patel (Head of the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House).
Almost four years since its establishment, the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved 49 projects and proposed 28 other projects. AIIB has proven to be a model of a multilateral development bank (MDB) that (partially) distinguishes itself from traditional MDBs like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) in terms of policy focuses, governance structures, and project procedures. The new bank claims to be more efficient in project preparation and less bureaucratic in governance than traditional MDBs, which has generated pressure on the latter.
At the same time, China has also increased its role in economic institutions, which were largely led by western countries, such as the WTO and IMF. In addition, China’s defense of WTO status quo, in contrast to the US criticism of WTO failing to discipline China into adopting fair trade approaches, raises questions about the future of international trade order.
More broadly, in other areas of global governance, such as climate change, cyber security and public health, among others, China is expected to player a more active role. China’s evolving role in global economic governance raises crucial questions for the future of the global economic order that this round table aims to address.