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SIIS – OCPPC Roundtable: Current African Economic and Strategic Challenges and Opportunities; Intersecting Views from China and Morocco

From

03
9:30 am September 2016

To

03
5:00 pm September 2016

 

The Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) and OCP Policy Center will jointly hold a roundtable on the current economic and strategic geopolitical challenges and opportunities the African continent faces and represents, on March 9th, 2016 at OCP Policy Center, Rabat.  

The purpose of this roundtable initiated by the two think tanks is to offer a research oriented platform where experts, researchers from both centers will intersect views, analyses and perspectives, carried in the context of the recent economic and geopolitical developments. It also aims to provide elements for discussion on the partnership perspectives between China, Morocco and Africa. It hence represents an opportunity to enhance and further these discussions between think tanks committed to bringing a contribution to analyzing regional and international geopolitical dynamics.

On the one hand, China’s increased involvement in Africa and Latin America is clearly demonstrated through its economic and trade strategy. The increased outsourcing of China’s industrial capacity and the large scale investments in infrastructure in African countries is marking a shift in the country’s approach to developing emerging markets.

On the other hand, China has recently released the Arab Policy Paper, which outlines the future orientation of China-Arabic cooperation in the light of the recent developments – on the economic, security and policy levels – witnessed in Middle East and North African region.

How can the Morocco-China partnerships benefit to the local and to the regional security and economic contexts? What are the opportunities for an enhanced China-Africa cooperation? What roles can think tanks play in sustaining the cooperation between the identified regions?

About the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies

Founded in 1960, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) is a comprehensive research organization for studies of international politics, economy, security strategy and China's external relations. The SIIS is dedicated to serving for China's modernization drive, and for Shanghai's opening-up and economic development. It mainly studies the United States, Japan, Europe, Russia and the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on relations among major powers and China's periphery environment. Based on its studies of theories of international relations and dynamic changes of international affairs, the SIIS pursues both mid-term and long-term comprehensive research on significant issues in contemporary international politics, economy and security, providing relevant governmental departments and institutions with research reports and other research findings for reference, and presenting journals and magazines to the public for popularizing knowledge of international affairs. 

Agenda

 

09:30 – 10:00

Introductory Remarks
10:00 – 11:00

SESSION 1: China - Sub-Saharan Africa's Interactions in the Regional Security

- Abdelhak Bassou, Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center

- Liangxiang Jin, Research Fellow, Center for West Asian and African Studies, SIIS
11:00 – 11:30

Break
11:30 – 12:30

SESSION 2 : China's Arab policy: New Perspectives for Sustainable Partnerships

- Weijian Li, Executive Director, China Association for Middle East Studies, and Senior Fellow, SIIS 

- Mohamed Maliki, Director, Asia and Oceania Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Kingdom of Morocco

- Fathallah Oualalou, Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center
14:00 – 15:00

SESSION 3 : Morocco and China in the Global Economic Context

- Karim El Aynaoui, Managing Director, OCP Policy Center

- Weiting Zhang, Research Fellow, Middle East and North Africa, SIIS
15:00 – 15:30

Break
15:30 – 16:30

SESSION 4: The Role of Think Tanks and Civil Society in Enhancing Morocco-China Coorporation

- Abdellah Saaf, Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center

- Jiemian Yang, Senior Fellow and Director, SIIS’s Academic Committee
16:30 – 17:00

Closing Remarks

 

Speakers
Abdelhak Bassou
Senior Fellow
Abdelhak Bassou is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. He is also an Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. Bassou has had an extensive career in Moroccan National Security, where he served in various capacities including as head of the border division from 1978 to 1993. He was the former director of the Royal Institute of Police in 1998 and served as Head of Regional Security (Errachidia 1999-2003, Sidi Kacem 2003-2005) and as Central Director of General Intelligence from 2006 to 2009.   He holds a master's degree in political science and international studies from the Faculty of Law, Economics, and Social Sciences in Rabat. His academic research delves into inte ...
Jiemian Yang
Senior Fellow and Director, SIIS’s Academic Committee
Jiemian Yang is a senior fellow and the director of SIIS’s academic committee, Counsellor of Shanghai Municipal People's Government. He received his B.A. at the Shanghai Teachers’ University, M.A. at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS) and M.A. at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Ph.D. at the Shanghai International Studies University. Concurrently, Dr. Yang is on the boards of the China National Association for International Studies, the Chinese People Institute of Foreign Affairs, the National Association of China-U.S. Friendship, The National Association of American Studies, and Shanghai Association of International Relations, Shanghai Institute for International Strategic Studies, Shanghai Association of Taiwan Studies and many other organizat ...
Fathallah Oualalou
Senior Fellow
Fathallah Oualalou is an economist, Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South.  He obtained his PhD in economics from the University of Paris in 1968. Prior to joining the Policy Center for the New South, he served as a professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat and other higher education institutions in Morocco, and as an associate professor at several foreign universities. He is the author of numerous books and articles in the fields of economic theory, financial economics, international economic relations, the economies of Maghreb countries, the Arab world, and the Euro-Mediterranean area. In addition, he was the president of the Association of Moroccan Economists at the Union of Arab Economists. His political activism began with the creation, in the 1960s, of ...
Liangxiang Jin
Research Fellow, Center for West Asian and African Studies, SIIS
Liangxiang Jin, research fellow at the Center for West Asian and African Studies, SIIS, is specialized in the Middle East international relations, and particularly engaged in the field of energy security and geopolitics, and the Iranian nuclear issue. He was a visiting scholar of the Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Israel from October 2002 to June 2003.  ...
Karim El Aynaoui
Executive President
Karim El Aynaoui is Executive President of the Policy Center for the New South. He is also Executive Vice-President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Dean of its Humanities, Economics and Social Sciences Cluster. Karim El Aynaoui is an economist. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at the Central Bank of Morocco where he held the position of Director of Economics, Statistics, and International Relations. At the Central Bank of Morocco, he was in charge of the Research Department and equally a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. Previously, he worked for eight years at the World Bank as an Economist for its regional units of the Middle East and North Africa and Africa. Karim El Aynaoui has published books and journal articles on macroeconomic issues in developing countries. Hi ...
Mohamed Maliki
Director, Asia and Oceania Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
Mohmamed Maliki is the director of Asia and Oceania Affairs, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco. Having held a diploma on “Diplomatic studies” from the “Pakistan Foreign Service Academy”, Islamabad, he engaged in a diplomatic career by becoming First Secretary of Foreign Affairs, in charge of the Technical Cooperation with African countries at African Affairs Directorate. He was Deputy Ambassador at the Moroccan Embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon from 1994 to 2000. From 2001 to 2003, he became Head of Eastern and Southern African Countries Department, African Affairs Directorate (MAEC). Before joining and leading the Asia and Oceania Affairs (2011 to present), from 2003 to 2007, he was appointed Deputy Ambassador at the Moroccan Embassy in I ...
Abdallah Saaf
Senior Fellow
Professor Abdallah Saaf is Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Affiliate Professor at the Faculty of Governance, Economic and Social Sciences (FGSES) of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Mohammed V University in Rabat, and Director of the Center for Studies in Social Sciences Research (CERSS), as well as founder of the Moroccan Association of Political Science. His research focuses on political science, international relations, policies and development strategies as well as public policies. Professor Saaf was a member of the commission in charge of revising the Constitution in July 2011, and member of the Scientific Committee at the Global Forum for Humans rights. Professor Saaf was formerly Minister of ...
Weijian Li
Executive Director, China Association for Middle East Studies, and senior fellow, SIIS
Weijian Li holds the titles of Executive Director of China Association for Middle East Studies，senior fellow of Shanghai Institute for International Strategic Studies, Council member of Shanghai Society for International Relations, Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association. Prof. Li worked at Cairo University (Egypt), University of Illinois (US), Center for Strategic and International Studies (US) as visiting fellow. He serves as the editorial board member for China-based monthly journal West Asia and Africa and the bi-monthly journal Arab World Studies as well. Prof. Li is a renowned scholar in Middle East studies. Currently his research also focuses on the studies of China’s public diplomacy and China’s foreign relations ...
Zhang Weiting
Researcher, SIIS
Zhang Weiting is now doing postdoctoral research at SIIS. He got a BA in Communications from Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) in 2002, and then worked as a journalist with Cable TV station of the university. He received MA in Educational Technology in 2007 and PhD in International Studies in 2014 also from SISU. His research focuses on the region of Middle East, with a special attention to Turkey and Iran. ...