Joining Hands for Trust-Based, Accessible Global 

Cooperation on Opening-Up

The beauty of a fine soup lies in its blending of different ingredients. After a year of profound shifts on the world stage, global cooperation on opening-up calls, more than ever, for mutual trust as its bedrock and for a steady advance toward openness that is accessible and beneficial to all. At this critical crossroads for world openness, the Launch of the World Openness Report 2026 and International Symposium on World Opening-Up, a parallel session of the 9ᵗʰ Hongqiao International Economic Forum, will be convened as scheduled on the afternoon of November 5 at Hall 4.2 of the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Shanghai). Distinguished guests from the political, academic, and business communities at home and abroad will gather under the theme of "trust-based and accessible global cooperation on opening-up" to read the trends of tomorrow and to chart a course through today’s impasse.

Chinese President XI Jinping stressed on multiple international occasions this year that "we should join hands to promote a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization" and "share opportunities and prosper together with all countries", contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to the advancement of global  cooperation on opening-up. This session will release the World Openness Report 2026, together with the latest edition of the World Openness Index. Upholding rigorous scholarship and a global macro perspective, the Report draws on the research insights of renowned scholars, including a Nobel Laureate in Economics. It traces the latest evolution of the trend in global openness, decodes three new drivers of openness—the digital economy, green and low-carbon development, and South-South cooperation—and offers an in-depth interpretation of the contemporary significance of "China Opportunity 2.0" for advancing trust-based and accessible global cooperation on opening-up.

The session will squarely address the challenges and bottlenecks confronting global cooperation on opening-up today, focusing on how to rebuild the foundation of trust for such cooperation and how to ensure that the dividends of our times—artificial intelligence among them—genuinely reach more countries and their people. Guests from all sectors will join the discussion on the following questions: How can dialogue and communication consolidate mutual trust, dispel suspicion and estrangement, and further expand cooperation in global trade, investment, and industrial and supply chains? In the age of artificial intelligence, how can cooperation on opening-up be accessible to the Global South, lowering the institutional, technological, and financial thresholds that developing countries face in participating in the global division of labor? And how can China’s contribution help the development of the Global South?

Key agenda items include Keynote Speeches, the Press Conference on the World Openness Report 2026, and Experts' Views on World Openness. Leading media outlets—including People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and China Media Group—will cover the event on site, and the CCTV Finance program Dialogue will record a special episode on location. Stay tuned!

Confirmed guests ( in alphabetical order ):

• Christopher A. Pissarides, Regius Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science; Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences

• GONG Ke, Executive Director of the Chinese Institute of New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategies (CINGAI)

• Hamid Rashid, former Chief of the Global Economic Monitoring Branch at the United Nations; former Editor-in-Chief of the World Economic Situation and Prospects

• Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University

• LIAO Fan, Director-General, Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

• Luz María de la Mora, Director, Division on International Trade and Commodities, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); former Vice-Minister for International Trade of Mexico

• Susan Hughes, President, Johnson Controls Asia-Pacific

• WANG Xuekun, Director of Research Center for Hongqiao International Economic Forum

• WEI Jianqing, Deputy General Manager, China-Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd.

• YU Miaojie, President of Liaoning University

• ZHANG Yuyan, Member of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

• ZHENG Yongnian, Director, The Institute for International Affairs, Qianhai, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen

• ZHU Min, former Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund

More high-profile guests are being confirmed—stay tuned.

This session is hosted by the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Research Center for the Hongqiao Forum; co-organized by the National Institute for Global Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; and organized by the China Outsourcing Institute.