Archives des News - Page 20 of 29

The Bridge Tank co-hosts the seminar: ‘China: Which questions for the future?’

Posted on 13 October 201916 December 2021 by the_bridge_tank

The Bridge Tank co-organised with the Chinese Embassy in France a seminar on the 11th of October 2019, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of economic reforms and the China and the 55th anniversary of the implementation of French-Chinese diplomatic relations. This seminar took place in Brongniart Palace and gathered French and Chinese politicians and experts. This seminar was the occasion for many exchanges and debates, between the speakers and the public and was opened by Hubert Védrine, former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, former Diplomatic Advisor to the French President, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former French Ambassador to China, Lu Shaye, Chinese Ambassador to France, and Joël Ruet, President of The Bridge Tank.

Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, Cheng Guoqiang, lecturer at the Tongji University of Shanghai, Emmanuel Hache, researcher at the French Institute of Petroleum, Jean-Claude Beaujour, Vice President of France-Amériques et board member of The Bridge Tank, and Jean-François Di Meglio, President of Asia-Centre at Sciences Po Paris, were keynote speakers of the first session of The Bridge Tank’s Seminar. Maurice Gourdalt-Montagne insisted on the necessity China has to confirm its place in the international system, notably through Eurasian agreements and structures. Jean-Claude Beaujour argued that Sino-European cooperation was key to the European Union, especially in the context of a Sino-American trade war and distrust. Jean-François Di Meglio explained how imortant it is for China to trust more than the international system and the benefits it could obtain through it.

The General Eric de la Maisonneuve, President of the Strategy Society, Zhao Chen, Director of the European Diplomacy Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Justin Vaïsse, Director General of the Paris Peace Forum, Deng Haochen, lecturer in Political Sciences at the Fudan University of Shanghai, and Emmanuel Dupuy, chairman of the Prospective and Security in Europe Institute, were keynote speakers of the second session of The Bridge Tank’s seminar: “China: which questions for the future?” General Eric de la Maisonneuve argued that more Sino-French cooperation is a key element for Africa’s economic development. Justin Vaïsse argued that China needed to be a key actor in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss, especially regarding its ability to gather states into a community capable of taking important mesures. Emmanuel Dupuy added that the Sino-French cooperation must be the starting point of the rebuilding of the international system; as well as the reinforcement of regionalism in international discussion.

A press conference with Lu Shaye was held following The Bridge Tank’s seminar, quoted notably in CGTN’s “60’ Le Grand Journal’.

A working lunch on international affairs around Maurice Gourdault-Montagne

Posted on 20 June 201927 June 2023 by the_bridge_tank

On June 19, 2019, France-Amériques and The Bridge Tank, represented by Jean-Claude Beaujour and Joël Ruet, co-organised a working lunch on international current affairs around Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, Secretary General of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as part of the “Transatlantic Talks” series.

Eric de Rothschild, Irina Bokova, Claire Martin, Anne-Sophie Bradelle, who was about to join the Elysée Palace team, and Pierre Haski, renowned journalist and President of Reporters without borders, were among the special guests invited by The Bridge Tank to the working lunch.

Discussing Sustainable Development & Innovation at the Western Returned Scholar Association’s annual meeting

Posted on 17 May 201926 June 2023 by the_bridge_tank

From May 15-17, 2019, the Western Returned Scholars Association hosted a side conference to the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations titled “Sustainable Development: Green Collaboration and Innovation”.

The keynote speakers of this conference included The Bridge Tank’s president Joël Ruet, Mohan Munasinghe, former Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, Nara Luvsan, Senior Programme Officer at the United Nations Environment Programme, and Li Zhijian, former Chairman of the Academic Committee of the School of Information Science and Technology of the Tsinghua University.

Joël Ruet also intervened in a panel discussion where he addressed the considerable change that the opportunity of direct high-speed trains between China and Europe would represent for passengers and human exchanges.

The Bridge Tank participates in the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilisations

Posted on 16 May 201926 June 2023 by the_bridge_tank

The Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations took place on May 15, 2019 in Beijing. For this event, Chinese President Xi Jinping invited heads of state and government and high representatives from around the world. The Bridge Tank was invited to attend this event and to give a speech at the official Intellectual Forum of the Conference gathering prominent thought leaders.

The conference was inaugurated by Xi Jinping in an opening ceremony which took place at Beijing National Stadium.

During the Official Economic Conference organised as part of this forum, Joël Ruet, Chairman of The Bridge Tank was a keynote speaker in a session titled “Asian solutions to benefit the people.” The roundtable event was chaired by Wang Xiaohui, Editor-in-chief of the China Internet Information Centre. Among the other keynote speakers of this session were Li Daokui, Dean of the Institute for the Chinese Economic Practice and Thinking at the Tsinghua University, Hu Zhijian, President of the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development, and Nakajima Atsushi, Chairman of the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry.

During this discussion, Joël Ruet advocated for a « learning state » between Japan, China and India for technology dissemination and exchanged with the other panellists on the massification of green technologies in China.

During the official gala dinner, The Bridge Tank’s chairman also had the opportunity to exchange with Chinese Vice-Minister of Education Du Zhanyuan. They were both at the official table with Shaukat Aziz, former Prime Minister of Pakistan and Yasushi Akashi, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

The Bridge Tank participates in the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation

Posted on 26 April 201915 December 2021 by the_bridge_tank

The Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing between the 25th and the 27th of April 2019 under XI Jinping’s presidency. This event gathered 900 select CEOs and economic leaders from companies, governments and business organisations from 88 countries that joined the Belt and Road Initiative. The SASAC’s (State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission) chairman, Xiao Yaqing was one of the keynote speakers. He argued that the inclusion of state-owned enterprises to the Belt and Road construction speeds up the globalisation process and drives the economic growth along the countries involved in the initiative. These enterprises undertook high quality pilot projects with high standards by meeting the demands for local development so as to achieve mutuel benefits and win-win development. As this event ended, a total of over 3,120 Belt and Road initiatives and ideas for further development in social and environmental sustainability had been gathered with central SOEs.

Joël Ruet, chairman of The Bridge Tank, as well as El Hadj Kasse, Minister-Counsellor to the President of Senegal and member of The Bridge Tank’s board, attended this forum. Memorandums of Understanding were signed with the governments of Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Luxembourg, Jamaica, Peru, Italy, Barbados, Cyprus and Yemen. Cooperation plans or action were also signed between the Chinese government and the governments of Serbia, Djibouti, Mongolia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea and the African Union, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The Chinese government notably made the commitment to implement facilitation arrangements for border entry and exit the Belt and Road, as well to develop Silk Road theme bonds to facilitate bond market financing by domestic and foreign entities to support the initiative. A cooperation initiative on the Silk Road of Innovation was also announced by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, and a Debt Sustainability Framework was published by the Chinese Ministry of Finance.

On the 24th of April 2019, The Belt and Road Studies Network, the initiative official’s think tank, was launched during its first annual meeting. This event was one of the official side events of The Belt and Road Initiative Summit. The Bridge Tank, as a co-founding member, attended this launch. Two of the keynote speakers at this event were Wang Xiaohui, Executive Deputy Head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and President of the Council of China Top Think Tanks, and Justin Yifu Lin, former Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank and researcher at the Peking University.

“Modi will be judged on what he was able to deliver”, Joël Ruet analyses the 2020 Indian elections on France24

Posted on 18 April 201916 May 2022 by the_bridge_tank

In the context of the 2020 Indian elections, Joël Ruet discusses the chances of Narendra Modi’s re-election on French television channel France24.

Watch his intervention here.

Horasis Global Meeting 2019: Catalyzing the Benefits of Globalization

Posted on 12 April 20198 June 2023 by the_bridge_tank

The Horasis Global Meeting was held from April 6-9, 2019 in Cascais, Portugal. It gathered over 800 world leaders from over 70 countries around the theme “Catalyzing the Benefits of Globalization”. The Bridge Tank was represented by its chairman Joël Ruet and its board member Pranjal Sharma, advisor at the Davos World Economic Forum and contributing editor to Business Standard and Business World.

In a panel titled “The Changing Face of Communism,” Joël Ruet argued that China was historically decentralised, with a government controlling the capital, whereas in the West, capital controls the government. He added that overpopulation remained a growing concern in China and that funds from outside the country needed to be considered for realistic projects.

Pranjal Sharma intervened in a plenary session titled “Navigating a World in Transition” and exchanged with the other speakers about their personal experiences as leaders and how they inspire people.

To read Horasis’ report of the Global Meeting, click here.

An event-filled week for The Bridge Tank during Xi Jinping’s state visit to France

Posted on 3 April 20191 August 2023 by the_bridge_tank

The Chinese President’s State visit to France from 24 to 26 March 2019 was marked by France’s desire to put Europe and the EU back at the heart of its relationship with China, as demonstrated by the diplomatic innovation of the invitation extended by French President Macron to the German Chancellor and the President of the European Commission.

Ahead of the Chinese President’s arrival, the official programme opened with a bilateral Franco-Chinese Seminar on Global Governance, co-organised by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Centre for Analysis, Planning and Strategy (CAPS) and the Chinese State Council Information Office, and opened by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

On this occasion, The Bridge Tank held discussions with CAPS prior to the seminar, and organised a working meeting with the Information Office and the China International Publishing Group. Our think tank also took part in discussions between the Chinese delegation and the former French Prime Minister and Special Representative of the French President for China, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the Chinese Vice-Minister of Education Du Zhanyuan and Justin Vaïsse, Director of CAPS.

The Bridge Tank and the China International Publishing Group signed a memorandum of understanding on training and the sharing of ideas concerning Franco-Chinese bilateral relations, but also incorporating the European dimension on the basis of cooperation of “networks of excellence or organizations within China and Europe through both parties’ intermediary role,” to “leverage as much as possible their international network”, for the “exchange of ideas”, and “cooperation in holding seminars, high level dialogue”.

In the interests of intellectual independence, it was agreed that our two organisations would jointly fund all activities.

The Chinese delegation gathered the following members:

Mr Du Zhanyuan, Chinese Vice-Minister of Education
Ms Chen Shi, Deputy Editor-in-chief of China International Publishing Group
Mr Xu Bu, President and Editor-in-chief of the Foreign Languages Press
Mr Xi Feng, Director General of the General Office of the China International Publishing Group
Mr Jiang Yonggang, Director General of the International Cooperation Department at the China International Publishing Group
Mr Yu Yunquan, Deputy Director General of the Academy of the Contemporary China and World Studies at the China International Publishing Group
Mr Xing Yutang, Coordinator and Interpreter of International Cooperation Department of the China Publishing Group.

Xi Jinping’s visit & the Franco-Chinese Forum on Global Governance

The MoU & the discussions around Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Special Representative of the French President for China

CGTN Dialogue – Joel Ruet discusses the Belt & Road Initiative MoU between Italy and China

Posted on 2 April 20191 June 2023 by the_bridge_tank

Xi Jinping’s state visits to Italy and France from March 21-26, 2019 was a milestone in the Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI) westward expansion. One of the key elements of this visit was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Italian government, according to which Italy would actively take part in the Belt and Road Initiative. This was particularly significant as Italy was then the first Western European country and G7 power to show such a strong interest for the BRI.

Joël Ruet took part in CGTN’s Dialogue program to comment this signing, along with Michele Geraci, the Italian Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Development, responsible for international trade and foreign direct investments. In a context of a very commented signing by the Italian authorities and a just as commented lack of signing by the French authorities, Joël Ruet highlighted that France’s investments and trade with China remained much higher than Italy’s. He added that, in the European view, the priority was not to sign a Belt and Road agreement, but to have concrete economic commitments.

During Xi Jinping’s state visit to France, the host country also innovated institutionally by inviting German chancellor Angela Merkel as well as Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, to meet with the Chinese and French heads of state. This highlighted the European Union’s shared point of view regarding diplomacy with China, especially in the context of a unilateral signing by Italy.

To rewatch the show:

Joel Ruet and irina Bokova of The Bridge Tank speak at the BOAO Forum 2019

Posted on 1 April 201927 July 2021 by the_bridge_tank

The Boao Forum 2019 took place between the 26th and the 29th March, themed: ‘Shared Future, Concerted Action, Common Development’. The Opening Plenary Session was held by the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who highlighted the importance of a mutually beneficial cooperation in the face of world economic headwinds. He added that China would not resort to massive economic stimulus to boost growth, but would continue to open up and innovate to energize market players and strengthen endogenous stimulation for economic development.

The Bridge Tank has been a partner of the forum since 2018, and was this year represented by president Joël Ruet, who took part in several key events:

Panelist at the session titled: ‘The Future of the Sharing Economy’, moderated by Lu Binbin, founder of BinBinBang and producer of E-Talking. Other panelists included Yunfeng Bai, President of the Tal Education Group, Kelvin Chen, co-founder and CEO of Xiaoshu.com, Marsha Ma, Vice-President and Managing Director of China Booking.com, Ming Maa, President of Grab, and Mi Wenjuan, Founder and CEO of VIPKID.

Attended a closed door session organized by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and former UNSG Ban-ki-moon.
Interviewed on several occasions by Chinese and international press, notably on the midday show of the national channel CGTN. Other guests included Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former French Prime Minister, and Xu Tiebing, Professor at the Communication University of China.

Attended the ‘She Economy’ roundtable, organized by famous newscaster Lu Binbin. Ruet was the only foreign delegate to be invited to this discussion between Chinese CEOs and business owners.

Irina Bokova, former Director-General of UNESCO and The Bridge Tank board member also attended the forum, taking part notably in two panels: ‘A Sustainable Future for Rural Asia and Cities’ and the roundtable: ‘The Power of Women and the Value of Balance’.