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Fruitful Dialogue with Herman Van Rompuy and Chengyu Fu

Sitao Xu, Andrew Zhu, Norman Sze, Herman Van Rompuy, Chengyu Fu, Vivian Jiang and Marylee Ma (from left to right) attended the event

On the 16th of July, the Deloitte China CXO Program hosted a dialogue with Herman Van Rompuy, president emeritus of the European Council, and Chengyu Fu, former chairman of Sinopec. The talk was moderated by Sitao Xu, chief economist of Deloitte China, and centered on the European perspective on the evolving Sino-U.S. trade spat, as well as prospects for China's overseas investment propelled by the Belt and Road Initiative.

Vivian Jiang gave the opening speech
Sitao Xu moderated the talk

Key takeaways

Understanding policy action from a social perspective

During lively exchanges, Chengyu Fu stressed social understanding of the BRI in light of a "community of common destiny". Turning to escalating Sino-U.S. trade tensions, he pointed out that President Trump's policy actions are closely related to U.S. domestic politics and structural headwinds facing globalization, so ought to be taken seriously. 

EU-China: solving problems through negotiation

Herman Van Rompuy argued that despite protectionist headwinds, globalization has not ended. The Sino-U.S. trade spat not only concerns the two parties directly involved, but has also affected the global supply chain. The 20th EU-China Summit, which took the same day, marked a turning point, he suggested. The main messages from the Summit were acknowledgement of issues including market access and reciprocity in China's trade and investment policies, and the need to forge synergies between BRI and EU policies.

Herman Van Rompuy discussed globalization's headwinds
Chengyu Fu remarked on the Sino-U.S. trade spat

Despite divergences on the direction of globalization, both speakers felt strongly that the EU and China have a shared responsibility to overcome global tensions and confrontations. A packed house was there to hear their wise, trenchant remarks on these most pressing of global issues.

A rapt audience heard participants' views
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