Lecture on “Emerging Markets and Emerging Powers” given by Jorge Castañeda, former Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Professor of New York University

On the morning of April 1, 2015, Jorge Castañeda, former Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Professor of New York University, visited Peking University and gave a lecture on the theme of “Emerging Markets and Emerging Powers”. Mr. Julián Ventura, Mexican Ambassador to China, Mr. Alejandro Acalde, Director of Political Office of Mexican Embassy in China, Fan Shiming, Deputy Dean of School of International Studies, Associate Professor Guo Jie and Dr. Chen Changwei from School of International Studies, Prof. Dong Jingsheng from Department of History of Peking University, Dr. Guo Cunhai from Latin America Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Patricia Castro Obando, journalist of El Comercio of Peru and Dr. Zhang Qingren from Minzu University of China participated in this event.

Deputy Dean Fan Shiming first extended his welcome to Prof. Jorge Castañeda and guests from the Mexico side and briefly introduced the speakers’ academic background, research fields, and achievements. During the one-and-a-half-hour-long lecture, Prof. Castañeda made in-depth analysis and exploration on many topics, including the influence of commodity price decline in recent years on Latin American, especially South American countries, common challenges faced by many governments in the region (such as the growing discontent of new middle class and crisis of confidence due to frequent corruption), expanding existence of China in Latin America and the US’ attitude and reactions. When speaking of the economic relations between China and Mexico, Prof. Castañeda stressed that Mexico is not a commodity exporter and its major trade partner is the US located in its north. He pointed out that China and Mexico shall pay more attention to investment instead of trade to strengthen the economic relation between the two countries.

In the Q&A session, Prof. Castañeda answered the questions raised by participating teachers and students, including China’s investments in Latin America, China-US relations, Bi-Oceanic Railway Project from Peru to Brazil, the Pacific Alliance and the upcoming Mexican parliamentary election.