The Beijing Forum 2020 opened at Peking University on December 5, with 
bilingual live broadcasts across multiple platforms. This year, the 
international academic event, co-organized by Peking University, Beijing 
Municipal Education Commission, and Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, 
focused on post-pandemic global development with the theme "The Harmony of 
Civilizations and Prosperity for All -- Globalization under the Impact of the 
Pandemic: New Challenges and Opportunities". Eminent thinkers from China and 
abroad were invited to offer insights and discuss global issues in light of the 
pandemic. 

The opening ceremony was presided over by Qiu Shuiping, chairman of Peking 
University Council. Speakers made addresses either online or in person, and 
they included Han Qide, vice chairman of the 10th and 11th Standing Committee 
of NPC, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Peking University President Hao 
Ping, Chairman of the SK Group Chey Tae-won, Founder of the World Economic 
Forum Klaus Schwab, and Former Prime Minister of Japan Fukuda Yasuo. In 
addition, Qiu Yuanping, standing committee member of CPPCC, gave a special 
address.

Antonio Guterres extended his best wishes for the forum and recognized China's 
progress towards Sustainable Development Goals. Guterres also called for the 
world to learn the lessons from the public health crisis and stressed the 
importance of international cooperation.

Hao Ping shared his thoughts on the key missions higher education institutions 
should uphold in order to drive social progress in face of the pandemic. 
Specifically, Hao noted that universities must seek development in view of 
future and reform the education model.

Klaus Schwab believes that truth and trust are the most important building 
stones in the process of seeking harmony.

Moreover, five leading figures shared insights on the global outlook in a 
keynote speech session online chaired by Park In-kook, president of Chey 
Institute for Advanced Studies. The speakers included Joseph Stiglitz, 
professor at Columbia University, Stephen Toope, vice-chancellor of the 
University of Cambridge, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center 
for Disease Control and Prevention, Jerome H. Kim, director general of 
International Vaccine Institute, and Huang Ru, vice president of Peking 
University.

Joseph Stiglitz encouraged global cooperation in times of multiple crises. "We 
need global cooperation to solve crises and the multiple other challenges, but 
over the last few years, we've also had a crisis in global cooperation ... We 
need to reconstruct the post-pandemic economy in a way that is greener, more 
equal, more resilient, and more knowledge-based," Stiglitz said.

Citing "No man is an island", Stephen Toope believes that what is true about 
people is also true about global universities. He added that academic 
institutions should find ways to continue to work together, because the 
diversity of backgrounds, views and expertise that can only come from 
equitable, open partnerships is how knowledge is produced these days.

Wu Zunyou reviewed the timeline of China's coronavirus outbreak and detailed 
what China has done to fight against the pandemic. He said the "four early 
steps", namely early detection, early reporting, early isolation, and early 
treatment, are important strategies in responding to acute infectious diseases. 
He further pointed out that, "Although China has successfully contained the 
virus, to be honest, we cannot have a turnaround until the global pandemic is 
under control."

Jerome H. Kim's speech focused on the global production of COVID-19 vaccines, 
stressing that vaccine research, development and manufacturing will be a global 
affair. He urged everyone to have faith in globalized efforts and emphasized 
that worldwide equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines in the future will benefit 
global public health.

In addition to the main forum, the Forum is comprised of eight sub-forums known 
as the Beijing Forum Webinar Series. The sub-forums dive deeper into a broad 
range of topics including Chinese history studies in digital context, healthy 
China and health communication, international public policies in a turbulent 
world and more.

Held annually since 2004, the Beijing Forum, with the overarching theme "The 
Harmony of Civilizations and Prosperity for All", has gathered a wealth of 
invaluable suggestions and insights that have helped generate outstanding 
academic advancement around the world, witnessing more than 6,500 renowned 
dignitaries and scholars from over 80 countries and regions in participation 
thus far.

SOURCE: Peking University

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