Friday, October 20, 2017 | 8:30 AM EDT - 10:00 AM EDT

National Committee on U.S.-China Relations |, New York, NY

In recent years, China has taken an increasingly active role in global affairs. From the managers of state owned enterprises to political and military leaders, Chinese have looked abroad, including to the resource rich Middle East. What does Chinese engagement mean for the region? What opportunities and challenges does the Belt and Road Initiative bring? Dr. Pan Guang, professor at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, vice president of the Chinese Association for Middle East Studies, and director of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Belt and Road Studies Center, joined the National Committee in New York for a conversation that addressed these critical questions.

This event is part of the Committee’s China and the World series on the impact of China’s rise across the globe, and is a 50th Anniversary event. For more information about other 50th Anniversary programs, please click here.

Pan Guang photo 200x200

Pan Guang

Pan Guang is a professor at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, director of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Belt and Road Studies Center in Shanghai, dean of the Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai, and vice president of the Chinese Association of Middle East Studies. He is an international council member of the Asia Society, a senior advisor on anti-terror affairs to Shanghai Municipality and the Ministry of Public Security of the PRC. Professor Pan received the James Friend Annual Memorial Award for Sino-Jewish Studies in 1993, the Sankt Peterburg-300 Medal for Contributions to China-Russia Relations awarded by President Putin in 2004 and the Austria Holocaust Memorial Award in 2006. He was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a member of the High-Level Group for the UN Alliance of Civilizations in 2005, and appointed as Ambassador of the UNAOC in 2008.

Professor Pan has lectured and conducted research all over the world, including at Harvard University, Columbia University, RAND Corp., the Brookings Institution, Stanford University, Oxford University, Leiden University, University of Munich, University of Vienna, the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies & Research in the UAE, and Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has published a variety of books and articles on Jewish communities in China and Asia, as well as China’s relationship with the Middle East.