Zhou Yuxiao, Ambassador for Affairs of FOCAC of the Foreign Ministry of the People’s Republic of China, reflects on the implementation of the outcomes of the last FOCAC Summit held in Beijing in 2018, the challenges incurred since and his expectations of the upcoming Senegal meeting.

We all know that multilateralism is essential to our world vision but also facing strong headwinds. However, with the new US administration in office there is a real opportunity to work for its revival even if this is not going to be an easy task.  First because there are differences all over the world about how to rebuild it. Second because in a multipolar and fractured world, the geopolitical basis for multilateralism is changing. Third because Europe, like other global players in the world, will have to work in a more assertive way to advance its interests in a more transactional world.

Last month, President Xi Jinping pledged that China would become carbon neutral by 2060. This announcement could be a tipping point in the global fight against climate change. It will accompany European efforts in the field of climate diplomacy. 

It's a hard time, and everyone's feeling it in different ways. And I know a lot of folks are reluctant to tune into a political convention right now or to politics in general. Believe me, I get that. But I am here tonight because I love this country with all my heart, and it pains me to see so many people hurting.I've met so many of you. I've heard your stories. And through you, I have seen this country's promise. And thanks to so many who came before me, thanks to their toil and sweat and blood, I've been able to live that promise myself.

China is preparing for a leading role in the future world economic order. A closer look, therefore, at the Belt and Road Initiative and China’s new institutions and platforms for geo-economic influence can help to understand – and manage – the risks ahead.  

The coronavirus crisis is creating a more competitive global environment, with confrontation growing faster than cooperation. As EU, we face rougher seas and risk getting caught in the cross-currents of major powers telling us to “pick a side”.Things that were treated as technical and not ‘high politics’, such as investment and trade, technologies and currencies, are now part of open competition or even confrontation. Things that you could rely upon as solid, such as facts and science, are now being challenged and part of a battle of narratives, amplified through social media.