On November 3-4th, 2021, the Eighth Annual Meeting of “North Pavilion Dialogue” was held at Peking University (PKU). “North Pavilion Dialogue” was organized by the Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IISS), PKU with enormous support from the leadership of PKU, Office of International Relations, as well as the School of International Studies (SIS) of PKU. Both domestic and foreign former politicians and renowned experts with extensive political experience, profound academic accomplishments and comprehensive strategic visions are invited annually to the “North Pavilion Dialogue” at the PKU to explore the international situation and the prospects of world politics.

This year, “North Pavilion Dialogue”, titled “Global Trends and Policy Recommendations 2021 in the Wake of the COVID-19 Crisis”, was held as a video conference, aiming to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, changing geostrategic landscape in Asia-Pacific amid China-US tensions, managing climate change and environmental issues, and changing geostrategic landscape in Eurasia.

Participants agreed that COVID-19 has brought new turbulence and risks to the world economy and politics. All countries must work together to cope with the epidemic and restore the economy more effectively. At present, Sino-US relations are facing difficulties, but there will not be a "new cold war". There are important common interests and cooperation opportunities between the two countries. In the face of the increasingly urgent climate crisis, international cooperation has made new progress, but it still faces domestic political and geopolitical obstacles. It is urgent for countries to take more practical actions to effectively promote multilateral coordination. Participants put forward many useful suggestions on how to calmly and pragmatically deal with the above challenges.

A total of 13 international guests were invited to this annual meeting: Mr. Kevin Rudd，former Prime Minister of Australia and president of the Asia Society; Mr. John Negroponte, former deputy secretary of State of the United States; Mr. Joseph Nye, Jr., former assistant secretary of Defense of the United States, former chair of the National Intelligence Council of the United States and distinguished service professor emeritus of Harvard University; Mr. Shivshankar Menon, former National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India; Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan; Mr. Kim Sung-Hwan, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea; Mr. George Yeo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore; Mr. Marty Natalegawa, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia; Mr. Nabil Fahmy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt; Mr. Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council; Mr. David Miliband, former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom; Mr. Thierry de Montbrial, President of French Institute of International Relations (IFRI);  Mr. Volker Perthes, UN secretary-general special representative for Sudan and former Director of Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP).

Mr. Dai Bingguo, former State Councilor of the China, attended the meeting and delivered a keynote speech. Several distinguished domestic guests also attended this annual meeting upon invitation, including Mr. Chen Dongxiao, president of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies; Chen Xiaogong, former deputy director of foreign affairs office of the CPC Central Committee Lieutenant General (retired), former deputy commander of the China Air Force and council member of the IISS, PKU; Mr. Cui Tiankai, former vice minister of Foreign Affairs of China and Former Chinese Ambassador to the United States; Mr. He Yafei, former vice minister of Foreign Affairs of China, deputy director of Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and council member of the IISS, PKU; Prof. Yan Xuetong, dean of the Institute of International Relations, Tsinghua University and council member of the IISS, PKU; Ms. Yao Yunzhu, Director Emeritus of the Center on China-American Defense Relations, Major General (retired) of the Academy of Military Science of the PLA; Prof. Wang Yizhou, Boya Distinguished Professor of PKU, professor of the School of International Studies, PKU and council member of the IISS, PKU; Prof. Zhang Haibin, associate dean of the School of International Studies, PKU; Prof. Zha Daojiong, professor of the School of International Studies, PKU. Other participants from the IISS, PKU mainly include Prof. Wang Jisi, President, Prof. Yuan Ming, Vice President, Associate Prof. Guan Guihai, Executive Vice President, Prof. Yu Tiejun, Vice President, Associate Prof. Gui Yongtao, Vice President and Associate Prof. Wu Bingbing, Senior Research Fellow of the IISS, PKU.

The IISS, PKU was officially established in October 2013. Under the leadership of PKU and thanks to the abundant intellectual resources of the SIS, PKU and other relevant schools and departments PKU, the IISS has long been able to undertake research projects commissioned by government departments and enterprises, dedicate itself to providing top-quality consulting services regarding China’s international strategies and foreign policies and establish close partnership with representative think tanks and academic institutions around the world.

Since 2014, the IISS, PKU has been hosting the “North Pavilion Dialogue” annually, which is one of the initiatives of PKU to fully implement the Party General Secretary Xi Jinping’s instructions on “establishing a new type of think tanks with Chinese characteristics”. The IISS aims to transform the “North Pavilion Dialogue” into a high-profile platform to facilitate exchanges and cooperation among domestic experts and their international peers in the international strategic community and further encourage in-depth exploration of and accurate judgments on the world situation, forward China’s fulfillment of its international role as a major world power and promote reciprocity-based mutual cooperation and inclusive development in global politics.

The “North Pavilion” as in the name “North Pavilion Dialogue”, formerly known as the Luella Miner Pavilion, is situated in the central part of the picturesque Yan Yuan campus and now accommodates the office of the IISS.

Editor: Li Fangqi