On December 16, 2021, China Forum (CF) of the Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS), Tsinghua University, held its year-end wrap-up meeting and seminar on international communication. The event convened more than thirty experts and scholars, with a group meeting face to face, including CF Founding Chairperson Mme. FU Ying and Vice Chairman Eric LI, connecting with others virtually.

CF Secretary General ZHANG Lirong took stock of the institute’s work in 2021 and shared its vision for 2022, noting that it has continued to expand its international communication channels and enrich its message over the year: CF hosted/co-hosted 16 conferences, produced 27 short videos and 27 podcast episodes, and published 11 and 23 issues of its original columns “Reference” and “Buzzwords” respectively. In addition, CF experts participated in over 70 international seminars, published 35 articles on international media outlets, and gave seven international interviews. The topics covered global cooperation against COVID-19, great power relations, international governance, Afghanistan, climate change and sustainability, trade and economy, the Belt and Road Initiative, roles of political parties, democracy, human rights, etc.

Participants agreed that CF should keep exploring ways to strengthen its international communication competence so that it can tell China’s story well and help the rest of the world gain a real and comprehensive understanding of China, encouraging the institute to continue to build on its strengths, advance cooperation with think tanks, media, businesses and the government, expand its international communication channels and global partnership network, and take the initiative to create agendas and platforms for dialogues on global challenges and issues of concern to the younger generation, so as to deepen the international community’s understanding of China.

Among the participants were CHEN Xiaogong, former Deputy Director, Office of Foreign Affairs Leading Group, CPC Central Committee; ZHANG Baijia, former Deputy Director, Party History Research Center, CPC Central Committee; YU Hongjun, former Vice Minister, International Department, CPC Central Committee; SHI Mingde, former Chinese Ambassador to Germany; YUE Xiaoyong, Special Envoy for Afghan Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China; ZHAO Yali, Vice Chair, China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation; ZHOU Hong, Member, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; WU Shicun, Founding President, National Institute for South China Sea Studies; HUANG Renwei, Executive Vice Director, Fudan Institute of Belt and Road & Global Governance; DING Yifan, Vice President, French Branch, European Society of China; JIANG Feng, Secretary, CPC Committee, Shanghai International Studies University; ZHU Feng, Director, Institute of International Relations, Nanjing University; ZHAO Huasheng, Professor, Institute of International Studies, Fudan University; DA Wei, CISS Director; ZHOU Bo, CISS Fellow; WANG Yuanfeng, Professor, Beijing Jiaotong University; GAO Jian, Director, Center for European Think Tanks, Shanghai International Studies University; ZHAO Minghao, Fellow, Institute of International Studies, Fudan University; TANG Xiaoyang, Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, Tsinghua University; TANG Bei, Executive Director, BRICS Research Institute, Shanghai International Studies University; YU Xiang, Senior Researcher, Research Institute, China Construction Bank; and TIAN Shichen, Founder, Global Governance Institution. Representatives from the China Public Diplomacy Association, the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies and the China Center for International Communication Development under the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, among other institutions, also attended the event.