The ICC holds the Symposium on the Evolution and Possibilities of the Global Landscape

On 31 October 2025, the Academic Committee of the International Cooperation Center (ICC) held a symposium on the evolution and possibilities of the global landscape at the Xianhe Hall of Beijing International Club. Zhou Hong, Chairperson of the Academic Committee of the ICC, Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and Former Director of the International Studies Department of the CASS, attended the symposium and delivered a speech. Zhang Yu, Convener of the Meeting and Director of the Steering Committee of the ICC, also attended the symposium. Experts and scholars from the Institute for European Studies, the Institute of the West Asian and African Studies, the Institute of the Latin America of CASS; and the School of Sociology of Beijing Normal University, etc. attended the symposium and made speeches. The attending experts and scholars discussed important issues such as grasping the overall trend of the times, major changes in the international situation, the balance of world power, and China's major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics from different research perspectives.

Zhou Hong made remarks

The symposium held that the current changes in the world, the era, and the history are unfolding in an unprecedented manner. The two key factors - the changes in China's own strength and the transformation of the international situation - constitute the important era background for China's distinctive diplomacy on a grand scale. The international power balance is the key factor determining the global landscape. Under the influence of multiple factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine crisis, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the world's transformation is accelerating. The international pattern dominated by the United States and featuring "one superpower and multiple powers" is undergoing profound adjustments, the so-called "Western liberal order" is collapsing; the world is increasingly multipolar. With the expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRICS countries, the role of the Global South countries has significantly increased. The global power transfer is continuously accelerating, and the international landscape exhibits the characteristics of multiple powers coexisting and complex competition.

The president Xi Jinping emphasized: "Understanding the general trend of world development and keeping up with the current times is an extremely important and constantly evolving topic." Currently, the world has entered a new period of turmoil and transformation, with an increase in uncertainties, instability, and unpredictability. Global economic growth is sluggish. However, the general direction of human development and progress will not change, the general logic of the advancement of world history will not change，and the general trend of the international community sharing a common destiny will not change. Facing an international situation of turbulence, a complex surrounding environment, and arduous tasks of reform, development, and stability, it is of great significance to accurately understand the trends of world development and scientifically grasp China's new historical position in its development. This is crucial for coordinating the domestic and international landscapes, advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through Chinese modernization, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Feng Zhongping delivered keynote speech

Days before the symposium‌, Ryszard Czarnecki, former Vice-President of the European Parliament, and Neil Bush, Chairman of the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations, visited the ICC. During the symposium, scholars and representatives, including Director Feng Zhongping, Associate Research Fellow Zhang Mengying, Research Fellow Zhou Mu, and Assistant Research Fellow Fang Xiao, delivered speeches on the theme. Scholars from the Schwarzman College of Tsinghua University also participated in the interactive discussions. Members of the ICC’s Strategic Advisory Committee, Academic Committee, and Steering Committee, as well as invited expert representatives, attended the symposium. Qu Baihua, a European affairs expert and Party Secretary and General Manager of the Beijing International Club, was also present. Heads and researchers from the ICC’s  Secretariat, the International Strategy Research Center, the Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee, and the Development Committee attended the meeting.