What’s next for China? Baker Institute event to explore country’s economic, political reforms

MEDIA ADVISORY

David Ruth
david@rice.edu
713-348-6327

Jeff Falk
jfalk@rice.edu
713-348-6775

What’s next for China? Baker Institute event to explore country’s economic, political reforms

HOUSTON – (Oct. 24, 2018) – Experts will gather at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy Nov. 5 to discuss what lies ahead for China’s foreign relations and economic and political reforms.

The event, hosted by the Baker Institute’s China Studies Program and Rice’s Chao Center for Asian Studies, is free and open to the public; visit www.bakerinstitute.org/events/1972 to register.

Who: Panelists Songying Fang, associate professor of political science Rice; David Firestein, founding executive director of the China Public Policy Center and clinical professor of public affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin; Elaine Liu, associate professor of economics at the University of Houston; and Xiaobo Lü, associate professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin.

Steven Lewis, the C.V. Starr Transnational China Fellow at the Baker Institute and professor in the practice and associate director of the Chao Center, will serve as moderator.

What: A panel discussion titled “Political Reform in China.”

When: Monday, Nov. 5, 4-6 p.m. A reception will be held at 6.

Where: Rice University, James A. Baker III Hall, Kelly International Conference Facility, 6100 Main St.

General Secretary Xi Jinping was firmly established as China’s “core leader” at the 19th Communist Party Congress in October 2017, and China is still on track to become the world’s largest economy in the next few decades, according to event organizers. Yet China’s foreign relations policies, especially with regard to trade with the United States, are proving to be a test of Xi’s leadership, they said.

Panelists will discuss whether China will continue with its very gradual political and economic liberalization reforms, which began 40 years ago with the fall of the Gang of Four and the end of the Cultural Revolution movement, and also whether China’s increasingly complex economic and treaty ties to other nations will influence the direction of political reforms in China and vice versa.

A live webcast will be available at the event page, www.bakerinstitute.org/events/1972.

Members of the news media who want to attend should RSVP to Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

For a map of Rice University’s campus with parking information, go to www.rice.edu/maps. Media should park in the Central Campus Garage (underground).

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Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks among the top three university-affiliated think tanks in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.