China, the challenge of the new world power

The conference, developed in the form of a colloquium, was given by Taciana Fisac, Professor of East Asian Studies and Director of the Center for East Asian Studies of the Autonomous University of Madrid; Miguel Otero-Iglesias, Senior Researcher of the Elcano Royal Institute and Professor of the IE; Margaret Chen, Founder of Optimus Horizon and China Club Spain and former Director for Asia of Telefónica; and José Pardo de Santayana, Research Coordinator and Principal Analyst of the Spanish Institute of Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Defense (who finally couldn’t participate).

The event was open to anyone interested in China's emergence as a new power in the 21st century and its geostrategic role in today's world, focusing on China's social, cultural, political and economic challenges under a new leadership of Xi Jinping. The event had more than 50 on-site participants.

Summary of discussion

The speakers discussed in depth the role of China in the 21st century, the role of Xi Jinping in today's China, the relationship between China and the EU, business opportunities between China and Spain, China's State model, the advances of China in the social, cultural and economic spheres in recent decades, the Taiwan question and its importance to China, and the social, cultural, economic and political challenges that China faces in the coming years.

After more than an hour of debate, an interesting Q&A session began, in which several people from the audience inquired about the concept of democracy in China, the rights of ethnic minorities in China, the alleged espionage of Chinese companies and the values of Chinese society, among other aspects, which contributed to a greater interaction between the speakers and the public for half an hour.