The first "North Pavilion Dialogue" annual meeting, hosted by the Institute of International & Strategic Studies (IISS), Peking University (PKU) and sponsored by Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA), was held at PKU from December 2 to 3, 2014. 11 foreign former political leaders and strategists, including former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, former US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, and former Indian National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, as well as heads of some think tanks and experts and scholars from related fields in China participated in the dialogue. Dai Bingguo, former State Councilor and honorary president of IISS, PKU also attended the dialogue.

The year 2014 is coming to an end. During this year, the world has changed greatly, which has brought both new concerns and new opportunities. The world economy is slowly recovering, but still faces many uncertainties. Many countries are undergoing profound political, economic and social changes. Some regional and local turbulence has not yet been subsided. Non-traditional security issues, such as terrorism, cyber security and infectious diseases etc., are more prominent. However, peace, development and cooperation remain an irresistible trend.

The year 2014 is an important year for China to comprehensively deepen reforms. While striving to achieve the "China Dream", China is providing the world with more public goods. China has also adjusted or deepened relations with major powers and neighboring countries in the past year. Its development of Silk Road Economy Development Zone and Maritime Silk Road has entered the phase of pragmatic cooperation. China has just successfully hosted the 22th APEC Leaders' Informal Meeting, and has played an active role in the 9th summit of the G20. These new look and new features of China's diplomacy have attracted the whole world's attention. Meanwhile, as China gains more power, its international role is undergoing profound changes. China's international strategy also needs further planning.

In view of such background, the theme of the annual meeting is decided as "International Security Situation and China". The meeting lasted two days, one day of which was for a closed-door seminar, one half day was for a dialogue between foreign guests and China's young scholars in the field of international strategic studies, and one half day was for a forum opened for the public and Chinese and foreign media. During the closed-door seminar, participants focused on the discussion of current global and Asia-Pacific security situation, and exchanged in-depth and candid views on  how China will play a more active and constructive role in  international security and global governance. Participants also had a heated discussion on how to build a think tank of international strategic studies in China, and provided many valuable ideas and suggestions. To make full use of the time to help foreign participants better understand China and its foreign policy, the host of the meeting arranged two special luncheon talks. Zhou Xiaochuan, Vice Chairman of CPPCC and Governor of People's Bank of China, and Li Baodong, Vice Foreign Minister, delivered speeches titled "World Economic Trends and the Economic Situation in China" and "China's role in Global Governance" respectively, which were welcomed by the participants.

In the afternoon of December 2, foreign guests and some young Chinese scholars in Beijing had a dialogue on the important issue of "the mutual awareness and understanding between China and the international community". The dialogue was hosted by Prof. Yuan Ming, Vice President of IISS, PKU. This calm and uncompromising dialogue could not only help young scholars appreciate the insights of foreign strategic experts in person, but demonstrate the agile mind and good training of China's new generation of international strategy researchers. They have shouldered the task of explain "China Dream" to the world.

In the open forum named "In Search for Conflict Resolutions in a Turbulent World" in the afternoon of December 3, eight guests, including Kevin Rudd, Robert Zoellick, Shivshankar Menon, Wang Yizhou, Vice President of the School of International Studies (SIS), PKU, Mikheev Vasily, Deputy Director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, Masahiro Akiyama, former Japanese Vice Defense Minister, Nabil Fahmy, former Egyptian Foreign Minister, and Thierry de Montbrial, President of French Institute of International Relations, had discussions on global security threats and response plans, construction of the security framework and other issues. They also had in-depth interactions with the audience.  Wang Jisi, President of IISS, PKU, moderated the discussions and interactions of the open forum. After the forum, the two-day "North Pavilion Dialogue" successfully concluded.

The IISS, PKU was formally established in October 2013, which is the successor of the International and Strategic Research Center, PKU. Relying on the extensive research and teaching experience of PKU, IISS is committed to providing quality consulting services for China's international strategy and foreign policy, and has established close cooperative relations with significant think tanks and academic institutions around the world. Since its founding, IISS has been among the best think tanks in China on the global think tank rankings published annually by the University of Pennsylvania.  The "North Pavilion Dialogue" is another effort to build IISS into a high-end think-tank with greater international influence following President Xi Jinping's recent instruction on "building new think tanks with Chinese characteristics".

It is reported that IISS plans to organize "North Pavilion Dialogue" annually, and gradually builds it into a high-end think tank platform so as to promote exchanges and cooperation in domestic and foreign international strategy communities in the hope of accurately judging the world security situation, helping China in international role-playing, and promoting harmony and co-development of the world.

The North Pavilion of the "North Pavilion Dialogue", formerly known as the Luella Miner Pavilion, is located in the central part of the scenic Yan Yuan Garden. It is now the place where the office of IISS is located.