ECCT Greater China Committee Lunch 

Xi Jinping's Next Moves
Guest speaker
Dr. Willy Lam 林和立博士 ,
Adjunct Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong

12:00 – 14:00, Thursday, 8 October 2015
The Sherwood Hotel, Yuan Ming Room (3F) / 台北西華飯店 元明廳3F
111 Minsheng East Road, Section 3, Taipei  /台北市民生東路3段111號 MAP 

China's recent stock market sell-off as well as other signs of economic slowdown are making the rest of world nervous. It used to be said that when the US sneezes, the world catches a cold. Now it seems the same applies to China. Commodity-driven countries from Australia to Brazil to Zambia worry about lower demand for their commodities while machinery, auto and luxury goods makers worry about their sales in China.

The administration of President Xi Jinping will have to adopt new strategies to generate economic growth and deal with a plethora of other problems such as rising income inequality, a shrinking workforce, a rapidly aging society and environmental degradation. Does the economic slowdown put the efficacy of ‘The China Model' to the test? Does the relentless and often arbitrary expansion of capacity across multiple industry sectors that has until quite recently successfully driven China's economic growth no longer working? Will the soon-to-be-announced 13th Five Year Plan contain reformist and forward-looking strategies to restructure the economy and address these problems? What are the next moves of Xi, who has become the most powerful "helmsman" since Mao Zedong?

At the same time, Xi appears to harbour ambitions to consolidate China's position as the fast-rising quasi-superpower by abandoning Deng Xiaoping's "keep a low profile" foreign policy and embarking on aggressive global power projection. Master plans rolled out by the president have included the One Belt One Road "infrastructure-based" diplomacy and efforts to marginalize American influence in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The landscape of challenges facing Beijing is complex and challenging as ever. Whatever decisions are made by Xi will have implications for not only China's development and the international order but also cross-Strait relations – including how Xi will work with the next Taiwan president. Our speaker will help throw light on Xi's possible future direction as he starts preparations for the 19th Party Congress scheduled for 2017.

About the speaker – Dr. Willy Lam / 林和立博士

Willy Lam is a Hong Kong-based China specialist with more than 35 years of experience analyzing and writing about Chinese politics, foreign and military affairs, and China-Taiwan relations. He was based in Beijing from 1986 to 1989, and has held senior editorial positions with regional and international media including Asiaweek, South China Morning Post, and the Asia-Pacific Office of CNN. Dr Lam has since 2007 taught at the History Department, the Center for China Studies and the Master's Program of Global Political Economy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the author of the just-published Chinese Politics in the Era of Xi Jinping (New York: Routledge, 2015). Dr Lam holds degrees, including a doctorate in political economy, from the University of Hong Kong, Wuhan University, and the University of Minnesota. He has been awarded visiting fellowships by Columbia University, Murdoch University (Australia) and other academic institutions. Dr Lam speaks English, Chinese, French and Japanese.

Cost: NT$1,300 for members; NT$1,900 for member's guest

To Cancel without penalty, written cancellations must be received 24 hours prior to the event.

Contact: Jenny Wu / Tel 2740-0236 ext.219 / jenny.wu@ecct.com.tw / www.ecct.com.tw