China and the Bretton Woods system: Reflections at the 70th anniversary

Thursday, October 2, 2014 12:30 PM EDT (UTC–04:00)
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This year marks the 70th anniversary of the famous 1944 Bretton Woods conference that endorsed a new multilateral framework for postwar international economic relations, including the creation of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. China's growing influence in the world economy is raising many questions about the future of the multilateral principles and institutions that were created under US leadership at Bretton Woods. Will Chinese authorities support the Bretton Woods system, or will they seek to reform or even challenge it in significant ways? Are we already witnessing developments that lend support to any of these predictions? What factors drive Chinese policymaking in this area? In order to shed some light on these questions, this panel brings together four scholars to reflect on China's relationship with the Bretton Woods system in the past, present and future.

Event Speakers

Xingqiang (Alex) He is a CIGI senior fellow. Alex is an expert on digital governance in China, the Group of Twenty (G20), China and global economic governance, domestic politics in China and their role in China’s foreign economic policy making, and Canada-China economic relations.

CIGI Senior Fellow Bessma Momani has a Ph.D. in political science with a focus on international political economy and is a full professor and associate vice‑president, international at the University of Waterloo.

Hongying Wang (王红缨) is a CIGI senior fellow and teaches political science at the University of Waterloo. She studies Chinese politics and foreign policy as well as international political economy.