On September 17-18, 2018, the annual meeting of the Western Returned Scholars Association (WRSA) took place in Xi’An, China. This association, which was created in 1913, counts over 40,000 scholars and is chaired by Chen Zhu, Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and former Chinese Minister of Health.

Joël Ruet, President of The Bridge Tank, took part in the Franco-Chinese Cultural Forum organised by the association. As one of its co-founders, The Bridge Tank also attended the inauguration of the new Belt and Road Research Institute of the WRSA. This institute focuses on three pillars, two of which the Bridge Tank made recommendations on, i.e. energy transition and the diversity of globalisation.

On the occasion of the inauguration, Joël Ruet was pleased to meet again with chairman Chen Zhu.