China has become the major force for global development in recent years. China’s size and strategic importance means that its growth and growing influence, through global governance institutions and through initiatives such as the Belt and Road, will become increasingly critical for global development. This is especially the case in the context of the COVID-19 and UN Global Goals, where China’s actions and investments, alone and in cooperation with other countries including the UK, will have a major influence on capacities to achieve multiple SDGs in a range of low- and middle-income countries.
The China and Global Development Seminar Series is the pre-eminent forum for discussion of China’s role in global development. It aims to facilitate dialogue between critical and varied actors on themes relating to China’s new role in global governance and development cooperation. In particular, China’s developmental engagement in developing countries. The seminar series involves IDS, University of Sussex, and its UK and global networks and partners. It brings a range of distinguished speakers from around the UK and the world to share their latest research and thinking on China in the world.
The seminar series is convened by the UK Anchor Institution for China International Development Research Collaboration, led by IDS and the IDS Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development.
The China and Global Development Seminar Series will also include a collaboration between China International Development Research Network (CIDRN) and the College of International Development and Global Agriculture (CIDGA), along with partners such as the ESCAP East and North-East Asia Office, The African Economic Center, the Southern Think Tank Network (NeST), and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), to provide a joint Global Development Cooperation webinar series focusing on strengthening global solidarity through development cooperation against Covid-19. Topics will include:
- How does the Covid-19 pandemic and anti-pandemic measures reshape global development, global value chains and global governance?
- What impact does the pandemic have on Africa’s development? What are the lessons for China-Africa cooperation and trilateral cooperation?
- What are the prospects for international development cooperation in the post-Covid-19 era? What opportunities and challenges does the pandemic bring to UK-China cooperation? What changes need to be made to better adapt to the new context?