On April 28, 2021, Professor YU Hongjun, former Vice Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, former Chinese Ambassador to Uzbekistan and a China Forum Expert, gave a lecture themed “China and the World amid the Great Changes” to over 200 students at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), sharing his insights on the relationship between China and the rest of the world and the strategic choices of China’s neighbors in times of unprecedented changes as well as on how to identify and respond to such changes.

A veteran diplomat, Professor Yu kicked off the lecture by highlighting the profundity, sophistication, instability and uncertainty of the evolving global landscape today, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the US decapitation strikes against Iran, the intensified India-Pakistan conflict, the farce of the US general election, among others.

Professor Yu pointed out that China and the US have forged a new paradigm of “co-opetition” in the Asia Pacific, and that the latter’s containment policy has triggered new dynamics in China’s neighborhood. He then took a deep dive into the current situation, prospects, and risks regarding China’s relations with its neighbors.

Further on, Professor Yu stressed that as COVID-19 rages on, it will lead to a worse global economic downturn and a decline in international engagement, so China will need a strong development strategy to guard against potential economic and security threats.

Finally, Professor Yu encouraged his young audience to maximize every opportunity that comes their way to achieve self-actualization. The event was held by the School of Marxism at UIBE.