In November, the Club of Three held a special session in Berlin Europe and China. It built on a series of webinars with senior Chinese figures during the course of 2022 and 2023, including two events in partnership with the China International Institute of Strategic Studies (CIISS).
This special session brought together around 45 senior representatives from business and the foreign affairs field in France, Germany, the UK and China to discuss how best to manage relations between Europe and China in the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis, the 2022 quinquennial Communist Party Congress and appointment of a ‘refreshed’ Chinese leadership team, and amid continuing tensions between China and the United States.
The event began with a dinner on the Thursday evening hosted by Mathias Döpfner at Axel Springer’s Journalisten Club, which served as a scene setter for the exchanges that took place the following day.
The Friday discussions were held at the Allianz Representative Office on Pariser Platz. They were divided into three sessions looking at Europe-China relations through a wide range of geopolitical, diplomatic, and socio-economic perspectives. The majority of Chinese participants participated remotely from China.
Participants included: Maurice Gourdault-Montagne (Former French Ambassador to China); Lt. General Xiaogong Chen (Former Deputy Commander, PLA Air Force); Xinghai Fang (Vice-Chairman, China Securities Regulatory Commission); Isabel Hilton (Founder and Senior Adviser, China Dialogue); Wolfgang Ischinger (President of the Foundation Council, Munich Security Conference); Katie Lee (Senior Adviser, China Affairs, HSBC); Uwe Michel (Executive Vice President, Allianz Group); Lord Sassoon (President, China-Britain Business Council); Sylvie Bermann (Former French Ambassador to China); Michael Schaefer (Former German Ambassador to China); Yongfu Sun (Former Director of the European Department, Chinese Ministry of Commerce); Daojiong Zha (Professor of International Political Economy, Peking University); Jörg Wuttke (President Emeritus, European Union Chamber of Commerce in China); and Yinhong Shi (Professor of International Relations, Renmin University)
