GVI and Germany's FEF jointly launched their research report on “China’s Global Security Initiative and Germany’s Zeitenwende”

On September 22, 2023, GVI and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FEF) of Germany jointly released their research report on "China's Global Security Initiative (GSI) and Germany's Zeitenwende". They also invited senior experts in various fields of China-Germany relations to talk about the report. Sergio Grassi, Director of the FEF in Beijing, and Ren Libo, President of GVI, delivered speeches for the launch. Mr. He Zhigao, a member of the GVI research team and associate researcher at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), briefly introduced the report content. Mao Jing, Director of GVI’s Public Affairs Department chaired the conference.

Participating Guests are:

Mr. Shi Mingde, former Ambassador of China to Germany;

Mr. Arend Wulff, Head of Political Office, German Embassy in Beijing;

Mr. Feng Zhongping, Director of the Institute of European Studies, CASS;

Mr. Sun Mingxi, Counselor of the Department of European Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC;

Mr. Bernhard Altersberger, Defense Attaché, German Embassy in Beijing;

Mr. Thorsten Giehler, Representative of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in China;

Mr. Thomas Böwer, former Councillor of the City of Hamburg, German Representative of the UQA network;

Mr. Sergio Grassi, Representative of Germany’s FEF in China;

Mr. Wang Jianbin, Vice President of the Institute of Advanced Studies in Regional and Global Governance, Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU);

Mr. Mao Mingchao, Deputy Director of the Department of German, Peking University;

Mr. Peng Dawei, Deputy Director of China News Agency's Integrated Media Center and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of ChinaNews.com;

Mz. Zhang Danhong, former Deputy Director of the Chinese Division of Deutsche Welle

In today's world, the global landscape and the spirit of the times are undergoing dramatic changes. From the COVID-19 epidemic to the Ukraine crisis, security issues have never been so pronounced after the Cold War. In addition to the traditional geopolitical hotspots such as the Ukraine crisis, globalization has also suffered from the impact of security and political issues at the economic level. Whether it is the restructuring of the global supply chain or the inflationary tide in developed countries, they are all the outcomes of the deep-rooted confrontational mindset and the zero-sum game. The world is facing the crucial question: has the "post-Cold War era", which is characterized by peace and development, come to an end? At this historical crossroads, Germany and China, the two most populous and economically and comprehensively powerful countries in Europe and Asia, with the former proposing the concept of "Zeitenwende" in February 2022 and the latter launching the "GSI" in April 2022, have respectively elaborated their judgments on the current global security situation and proposed a variety of ways to cope with it, which are of great significance to the world.

The GVI research team conducted a number of face-to-face interviews with serving and retired officials who have experience in diplomatic policymaking or research from some Chinese policymaking organs, Chinese national media, Chinese think tanks, and universities, as well as from institutions such as the ADB and the German Embassy in Beijing. Besides, the team organized a series of seminars for professionals from think tanks, enterprises, and journalism. Together with the FEF, they held discussions with scholars from the German Institute for International Politics and Security Affairs (SWP), the Bundeswehr University, the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH), and so on, to double compare and identify their similarities and differences between the GSI and the “Zeitenwende", and the correspondent policies China and Germany will take, and finally make relevant policy recommendations. The full report will be published thereafter.