On May 8, “Globalization in Transition-Masters Lecture”co-hosted by the School of International Studies & Model United Nations Associations at Peking University was successfully held online. Seven renowned scholars shared their distinctive viewpoints on globalization-related topics with students worldwide. Topics like “global trade and value chain” and “innovation and evolution in the era of globalization” were extensively discussed during the event. Prof. Chen Muyang moderated the even.
Prof. Zhang Haibin (Associate Dean of School of Int'l Studies at PKU) first stated in his opening speech that “globalization” is a topic of great significance considering thecurrentworld order. Prof. Zhang reckoned that the humanity is entering a period of turbulence and transformation at a faster pace, with both traditional and non-traditional security threats intertwined in an unprecedented way. He emphasized that although the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine crisis had been triggering pessimistic comments on globalization, it is still possible to build a bright future for all through cooperation.Prof. Zhang quoted Chairman Mao’s famous saying to end his speech and believed that the future of globalization lies in the hands of the youth.
The speech of Amb. Zhang Xiangchen (Deputy Director-General of the WTO) was centered around the global value chain. He explained the WTO’s new findings which was published in one recent report on the methodology and analytical understanding of the global value chain, talking about the challenges facing the WTO. Amb. Zhang’s observations on the international trade as well as scholars and students’ participation in global governance were also shared.
Following the speech of Amb. Zhang, Prof. Robert Koopman (Chief Economist & Dir. of the Economic Research and Statistics Division at the WTO) started his speech by talking about the significant rise of several developing countries including China, in the past two decades. Prof. Koopman explained the global trade in detail as well as the rise of global value chain and the COVID-19 vaccines production.
Prof. Yu Miaojie (Deputy Dean of National School of Development at PKU) shared his observations on international trade and highlighted that the role of regional trade cooperation would become more important. Prof. Yu also suggested that China would continue to lead in the next phase of globalization.
The speech of Prof. Wang Yong (Director of the Center for Int'l Political Economy andProfessor of the School of Int'l Studies at PKU) focused on current challengesfacingeconomic globalization from the international political economy perspective. He noted that the rise of nationalism and protectionism, as well as the intensifying great power competitions had all been affecting the economic globalization.
Prof. Wang Dong (Executive Director of iGCU and Professor of the School of Int'l Studies at PKU) suggested that learning from the past, it became evident that the pace of globalization would normally increase after major crises. Thus, the impact of the COVID-19 on the prospect of globalization could not be neglected. Prof. Wang reckoned thatwith the rise of protectionism, populism, and nationalism, globalization is now entering a period of adjustment, where the dynamic mechanism of it has started to undergo fundamental changes. According to Prof. Wang, during this process, three prominent trends would emerge, which respectively would be digital, regionalizational, and the slow pace of globalization (or the so-called ‘slowbalization’).
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