The Beijing Mission
25-27 May, 2024
About the Mission
The indispensable role of cooperative globalisation in addressing the climate and nature crisis was an important theme emerging from the Global Foundation’s Beijing Mission on 25-27 May 2024.
The Foundation and its delegation were honoured to partner with the Center for China and Globalization weekend for the 10th Annual China and Globalization Forum. Secretary General Steve Howard’s speech to the opening session is here.
The highlight of the Beijing Mission was the roundtable co-chaired by Steve Howard and Mabel Miao, Secretary General of CCG, entitled ‘Shaping the future: Global governance of climate and nature,’ the centrepiece of the Foundation’s work in 2024.
The conversation was exceptional and underscored the fact that meaningful action is not possible without the involvement of China, and Asia more broadly. Fresh ideas and powerful reflections were shared by senior representatives of notable global institutions including the United Nations, OECD, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF, World Health Organization and Paris Peace Forum, as well as global businesses like Bayer, Merck, and Shenzhen Amos Food Group.
The Summary Report from the Beijing Roundtable may be found here. The full transcript of the session is here and video is here.
Beijing Roundtable – ‘Shaping Global Governance Climate and Nature’
Photographs from the Beijing Mission
People
Engagement at our Beijing Mission included:
- Madam Fu Ying, Chairperson of Center for International Security and Strategy, Tsinghua University (CISS)
- H.E. Scott Dewar, Australian Ambassador to China
- Mabel Lu Miao, Secretary-General, CCG; Member, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Beijing Committee
- Erik Berglöf, Chief Economist, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (representing President Jin Liqun)
- Justin Vaïse, Founder and Director-General, Paris Peace Forum
- Erik Solheim, Vice Chairman, Europe-Asia Center; former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
- Siddarth Chattrjee, UN Resident Coordinator in China, United Nations (representing Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed)
- Tamas Hajba, Consellor Beijing, OCED (representing Secretary-General Matthias Cormann)
- Marc Horn, President, Merck China
- Mara Warwick, Country Director for China, Mongolia and Korea, World Bank
- MA Jun, Chairman, Green Finance Committee, China Society for Finance and Banking; Founder and President, Institute of Finance and Sustainability
- David Morris, Vice Chair, the United Nations Sustainable Business Network for Asia Pacific
- Martin Taylor, WHO Representative to China
- GAO Yong, Vice President of Public Affairs and Sustainability, Bayer China
- Smriti Aryal, Country Representative, UN Women China
- Violante di Canossa, Chief Economist, UNDP China
- Dora Giusti, Chief of Child Protection, UNICEF in China
- Lola Woetzel, Director, McKinsey Global Institute
- Da Wei, Director of CISS; Professor, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, China.
Background
Over the past 20 years, the Global Foundation has contributed to China’s global engagement and emergence as a global actor.
Foundation Secretary General Steve Howard has become a well-known and respected interlocutor for leaders and distinguished representatives of the Chinese Government, institutions and business entities.
The Foundation has welcomed contributions from Senior Chinese figures in its global roundtable discussions and efforts to advance cooperative globalisation and reform global governance.
The Foundation helped to secure the first LNG deal between China and Australia.
The Foundation brought together China, the United States and Australia to align on global climate change policy, first by hosting the Australian Prime Minister in Beijing, then by initiating three-way follow-up discussions with the officials in Washington DC a few months later.
The Foundation was integral to the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the first global institution led by China. Foundation Secretary General, Steve Howard, was the first appointee to the bank’s international advisory body.
Since 2019, Steve Howard has participated in annual, small-scale global security and strategy dialogues, hosted in China under the governance of top Chinese diplomat, Madam Fu Ying. A copy of Steve’s most recent address to this forum can be found here.
2023 was a significant year for Foundation engagement with China, after a hiatus due to the global pandemic.
April
The Foundation Secretary General, Steve Howard, and Chairman of the Board, Louise Watson, co-led a global delegation to Beijing for the first time in more than three years. The mission’s focus was on encouraging China, Australia and others to work together on re-making globalisation and encouraging further dialogue between civilisations.
The mission included a dinner with President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Mr Jin Liqun, and a roundtable discussion hosted by the Center for China and Globalization. The Mission was endorsed by the Australian Ambassador to China, His Excellency Graham Fletcher, and the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, His Excellency Xiao Qian. It served as a useful precursor to the Australian Prime Minister’s visit to China in November that year.
June
Chinese scholars and leaders, including Dr Huiyao “Henry” Wang and Dr Mabel Miao, participated in a ‘Dialogue Between Civilizations on Global Commons’, which was co-convened and co-chaired by Steve Howard, Professor Riccardo Pozzo and Professor Jeffrey Sachs at the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences at the Vatican. The key recommendation of the meeting elevated support for the Foundation’s focus on global governance reform, particularly as it pertained to climate and nature.
The Foundation’s work with China is often conducted in a low-key way. For example, the role that the Foundation played over recent years in encouraging better relations between China and Australia, most recently manifest through China lifting tariffs on the import of Australia wine, is not widely known.
