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