The Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences and the Egmont – Royal Institute for International Relations organise Power Profile: an international conference analysing the future orientation of the domestic development and the foreign policy and defence strategy of one of the states that determines the course of international politics. Every edition is co-organised with renowned partners from the country in question.

Power Profile 2023 will focus on the People’s Republic of China. There is not a country on the planet, nor any issue of international politics, in which China does not play a major role. Many fear a confrontation between China and the United States, or the West as a whole; perhaps some wish for that scenario; others seek to maintain cooperative relations on issues of shared interest. In every scenario, China’s future “grand strategy” is of the utmost importance for the future of the world – that will be the topic of the first session of the conference. As that strategy is shaped in many ways by China’s domestic concerns, these are what the second session will address.

Programme

13.00 – 13.15 Welcome & Introduction

– Prof. Dr. Philippe DE MAEYER, Ghent University & Permanent Secretary of the RAOS
– Prof. Dr. Sven BISCOP, Egmont Institute, Ghent University & RAOS

13.15 – 13.45 Keynote Speech

– Karel DE GUCHT, President of the Brussels School of Governance at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel; former Belgian Foreign Minister and EU Trade Commissioner

13.45 – 15.30 Session 1: Foreign Policy

– Prof. Dr. LUO Tianhong, Renmin University of China
– Prof. Dr. GUAN Kongwen, Beihang University of China
– Prof. Dr. Bart DESSEIN, Ghent University & RAOS
– Dr. Tobias GEHRKE, European Council on Foreign Relations & Egmont

15.30 – 16.00 Coffee

16.00 – 17.45 Session 2: Domestic & Economic Developments

– FANG Dongkui, Secretary-General, China Chamber of Commerce to the EU
– Prof. Dr. WANG Congcong, Peking University
– Dr. Alicia GARCIA-HERRERO, Bruegel
– Prof. Dr. Kjeld Erik BRØDSGAARD, Copenhagen Business School

17.45 – 18.00 Concluding Remarks

– François DELHAYE, Asia Director, Belgian Foreign Affairs

Please register here