Three Clingendael fellows and a group of experts from top Beijing think tanks and universities, plus government officials will discuss challenges for diplomacy today at a confidential seminar in Beijing.

The expert meeting on "21st Century Diplomacy and China" will be hosted by the China Center on Contemporary World Studies, the think of the CP Central Committee’s International Department.

Futures for diplomacy

The Clingendael delegation of three, consisting of diplomacy experts Jan Melissen, Shaun Riordan and Paul Sharp, will have a unique opportunity to strengthen existing ties with their counterparts and explore in depth how China’s views its diplomatic adaption to a fast changing world in which China is bound to have a much more prominent role.

Starting point of the meeting is the presentation of the Clingendael paper “Integrative Diplomacy for the 21st Century”, which is to be published later this year (in English) in the prestigious 2013 China’s Strategic International Review (CIRS). This publication draws on the 2012 Clingendael report “Futures for Diplomacy”.

How China sees the world

The aim of the three Clingendael envoys is to develop their insights of how China sees the world. This meeting is a unique opportunity to help promote a much-needed dialogue on trends in diplomatic practice and how China and Europe see their future interaction in a fast-changing world.