CCG Webinar | Global Governance and Cooperation in Public Health

This year, the world has faced a major public health challenge due to COVID-19. In this time of crisis, how should countries work together and fight the disease? In the long run, how can we coordinate disease control and prevention and promote economic recovery and sustainable growth? How should countries cooperate in the development and distribution of vaccines?

On August 19, the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) held a webinar on the theme of global governance and cooperation in the public health sector. The event brought together a group of leading experts in relevant fields to share their thoughts and insights on the issue. 
Victor Gao, vice president of CCG, said that humankind has hit by COVID-19 and there is no sign on the global scale that things are getting better. Looking across the world, there were different ways in dealing with this pandemic and different governments have adopted different paradigms and methods to fight the pandemic. Gao expressed hope that all the countries in the world can rally around the WHO to strengthen international cooperation against COVID-19 and any major virus attack which may happen in the future. Besides, he emphasized that there is only one truly effective strategy against COVID-19, which is to fight against this pandemic with science rather than politics. He emphasized that China–US cooperation needs to be restored and strengthened.
The Current Situation in Fighting COVID-19 Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at China’s CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), pointed out four important scientific findings in the first three weeks after the outbreak of COVID-19 in China: isolating the virus, identifying the pathogen for COVID-19, and sharing the genome sequence that could be used to develop test kits; determining the incubation period; and determining transmission mode. He noted that China shared information with the WHO and other countries such as the United States, Japan, Korea, United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries very early on 3rd January. Wu added that China has facilitated communication with over 150 countries to share information about the epidemic and the lessons learned. He said that China’s CDC and the US CDC have had regular technical communication since the outbreak of COVID-19. He suggested that communications between non-governmental organizations and academic institutes have also been strong. 
Stanley Perlman, professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Iowa, said that the pandemic had brought the research community closer within and across countries, even between the US and China. He highlighted how the coronavirus is an accelerator for problems of globalization and nationalism, and blaming each other will make cooperation less likely. Because of the uncertain vaccine development and poor balance between economic and scientific issues in the US, he predicted that the coronavirus might last for 18 to 24 months. He was concerned about the effect of the pandemic on individuals, with many people working from home for months and less social interactions happening at bars and restaurants. 
Zha Daojiong, academic advisor of CCG and professor at the School of International Studies of the Peking University, stressed the importance of not letting politics interfere in medical issues. When it comes to vaccines, just like facial masks, Zha said that China is also facing the problem of trust. He suggested that the global community should focus more on patent pooling and disputing vaccines to Africa and Latin America rather than on politics. He pointed out that once the vaccine is available, the WHO should come up with a vaccine list and speed up the reopening of essential international travel.
Does Global governance Lack Leadership? 
Huang Yanzhong, nonresident senior fellow of CCG and senior fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations, applied the theories of neorealism and neoliberalism to explain why major powers had failed to cooperate in the pandemic. He said that ideologies have become central to US-China relations because the response to the pandemic was framed by both US and China as a sort of competition between two political systems. Huang said that a promising area of cooperation between the US and China is talking on travel restriction measures. He said that China-US cooperation is becoming politically difficult at the current stage, but still not impossible. 
David Dollar, senior fellow with the Foreign Policy and Global Economy and Development programs of John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, said that great power competition is bad for global governance, mainly because of relations between the US and China. He pointed out three sectors in which major divergences exist between US and China: public health, climate agreement, and international monetary issues. Firstly, China and the US disagree about the origins and early stages of the COVID-19 virus. Secondly, since signing the Paris Accord, both China and the US have not really been active in carbon reduction, and the US even exited the agreement. Thirdly, many African countries cannot service the debts they’ve built up because of the global economic recession, and global coordination is needed to assist the poorest countries—many of them need larger debt redemption, ideally an IMF act. However, Dollar added that in disputes over the Paris Club and the positions of the developing countries, neither the US nor China has shown leadership. He concluded by expressing disappointment on the actions of the two countries. How Will the Future Look？ 
Jorge Heine, nonresident senior fellow of CCG, research Professor at Pardee School of Global Studies of the Boston University, and former senior public policy fellow at the Wilson Center, stressed that due to the lack of international cooperation, the pandemic combined with the social crisis has become the worst crisis in Latin America in a hundred years, especially for poorer countries. He said that considering human impact on the natural world, another crisis like this pandemic might occur again soon. Heine pointed out that the pandemic is a wake-up call for humanity, warning people to change the way the international community responds to the global crisis and also modes of development that are destructive to nature. 
Torsten Oltmanns, professor of Political Economy at the Quadriga University and managing partner of the GAULY Management consulting, said that he and his team analyzed public health systems in 88 jurisdictions representing 95% of global GDP, and  found that excellent public health service is only partly driven by economic strengths and that there are many other contributing levers, like comprehensive stakeholder involvement, accountability frameworks, and scenario-based measures ranging from “risk reduction” to “all-or-nothing” approach. Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the study indicated that harm reduction approaches based on scientific evidence are highly correlated (40%) with a successful fight against the pandemic. In the Q&A session, Wu Zunyou and Ye Baixin, hematologist at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, discussed the concerns of developing countries regarding the priority distribution of vaccines in developed countries and international exchanges between doctors during the pandemic. Wu said that when the vaccine becomes available in China, it will become a public product, meanwhile, the World Health Organization is making plans to ensure that everyone in the world has a fair chance to use the vaccine. Ye said that cooperation between doctors and scientists is very important. During the epidemic, he built a platform for academic exchange and writing for more than 2,000 doctors from all over the world, allowing doctors from all over the world to unite and share their views. 

CCG Books

● Published by Springer 

● Edited by Wang Huiyao, President and Miao Lu, Vice President, Center for China and Globalization(CCG), Beijing, China 

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The internationalization of Chinese enterprises is one of the most notable aspects of economic globalization in the 21st century. Despite the 2008 financial crisis and weak global outbound investment, under the “go global“ initiative, Chinese outbound investment has gone from strength to strength, while also diversifying in terms of investment modalities, destinations, and industries. However, growing anti-globalization sentiment in some countries has also created new challenges for Chinese firms expanding internationally.

Drawing on nearly 3000 data samples, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, this book presents unique insights into the features and patterns of Chinese enterprises’ globalization. The analysis provides a useful reference for enterprises that have already gone global and those that plan to. In particular, this book investigates challenges confronted by Chinese companies when doing business in foreign countries. It summarizes research covering three angles, namely: the current situation, causation analysis and corresponding solutions, and recommendations for firms, government agencies and other institutions.

This book provides a comprehensive overview to help readers to grasp the broad picture of the international expansion of Chinese enterprises. It has important reference value for enterprises to help devise foreign investment strategy, seize opportunities, and navigate challenges in the course of globalization.

● Links：

https://www.springer.com/cn/book/9789811546457

● Published by Edward Elgar 

● Edited by Wang Huiyao, President and Miao Lu, Vice President, Center for China and Globalization(CCG), Beijing, China 

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An excellent guide for understanding the trends, challenges and opportunities facing China through globalization, this Handbook answers the pertinent questions regarding the globalization process and China’s influence on the world.

With contributions from leading experts and international researchers, each chapter covers key topics regarding China’s participation in globalization, including: China’s new role in global economic governance; outward direct investment; China’s soft power and the implications for foreign relations; global migration, diaspora and talent. An enriching range of case studies and extensive empirical research are used to explore the successes and failures of globalization in China, and to discuss the dilemmas facing decision makers in today’s globalized world. A major contribution to the field, this Handbook offers valuable insights to China’s often misunderstood globalization process.

An essential reference for academics and researchers looking for a go-to empirical resource, this Handbook provides scholars of economics, politics and East Asian studies with an exemplary selection of contemporary research on China and globalization.

● Links：

https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/handbook-on-china-and-globalization

● Published by Springer

● Authors: Wang Huiyao, President and Miao Lu, Vice President, Center for China and Globalization(CCG), Beijing, China 

The first effort to address the gap regarding higher-end talent within the scholarly work on internal labor migration in China

Provides an essential overview of the major milestones in China’s talents attraction policies, as well as several recommendations to help further improve those policies

Investigates corresponding policies in Germany, Japan, and Singapore to serve as a basis for comparison

Provides a snapshot of first-hand reference material for relevant stakeholders involved in cooperation with China

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This book offers the most comprehensive, up-to-date assessment of China’s domestic and international migration. Restructuring economic development requires large numbers of educated and skilled talents, but this effort comes at a time when the size of China’s domestic workforce is shrinking. In response, both national and regional governments in China have been keen to encourage overseas Chinese talents and professionals to return to the country. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has initiated a number of policies to attract international highly-skilled talents and enhance the country’s competitiveness, and some Chinese policies have started attracting foreign talents, who are coming to the country to work, and even to stay. Since Chinese policies, mechanisms, and administration efforts to attract and retain skilled domestic or overseas talents are helping to reshape China’s economy and are significantly affecting the cooperation on migration and talent mobility, these aspects, in addition to being of scholarly and research interest, hold considerable commercial potential.

● Links：

https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811362552#aboutBook

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