By examining the personalities and experiences of China’s primary top leaders since 1949, David Shambaugh explores contemporary Chinese history.
The Public Intellectuals Program (PIP), launched by the National Committee in 2005, is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of China specialists who, in the tradition of earlier China hands, have the interest and potential to venture outside of academia to engage with the public and policy communities.
In 2019, the National Committee established a new Track II dialogue between the United States and China to discuss issues relating to the digital economy, in partnership with the Guanchao Cyber Forum, a division of Chinese Internet Security Conference. The dialogue focuses on changes affecting corporations doing business globally and on finding ways that American and Chinese companies can cooperate to address these concerns.
CHINA Town Hall connects leading China experts with Americans around the country for a national conversation on the implications of China’s rise on U.S.-China relations and its impact on our towns, states, and nation. The National Committee is proud to partner with a range of institutions and community groups, colleges and universities, trade and business associations, and world affairs councils to bring this important national conversation to local communities around America for the 14th consecutive year.
In April 1972, the National Committee made history by hosting the Chinese Table Tennis Team in round two of what became widely known as Ping Pong Diplomacy. The watershed visit — the first-ever of a delegation from the People's Republic of China to the United States — set the Committee on its path of becoming the pre-eminent exchange organization between the United States and China.
Eight months after the Chinese ping pong team visited the United States, the National Committee made history again by hosting the first performing arts company from the People's Republic of China — the Shenyang Acrobatic Troupe — for a four-week, four-city tour.
In September 1973, the National Committee helped facilitate the Philadelphia Orchestra's historic trip to China, paving the way for other American orchestras. The Boston Symphony followed in 1979.
Following a cooling of relations in the early 1990s, the National Committee revitalized the U.S.-China military dialogue, sending a group of retired four-star generals and admirals to China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in 1994 and 1996. Since then, the success of this program has continued to foster constructive exchange, in addition to inspiring other programs like the U.S.-China Strategic Security Dialogue.
The National Committee brought the first group of Chinese mayors and deputy mayors to U.S. soil in September, 1978. Led by Beijing Deputy Mayor Zhao Pengfei and Shanghai Deputy Mayor Yen Yumin, the 19-member delegation also included city planners, architects, and engineers. The visit was the first of approximately 50 exchanges the Committee has sponsored in the area of municipal and state/provincial management and planning.
