On November 18, 2025, the “2025 Shanghai Symposium on Global Finance” was successfully held in Shanghai. This annual forum was co-hosted by SDRF and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Shanghai Representative Office. The theme of this year's forum was “International Economic Order at a Crossroads.” Chinese and foreign guests engaged in in-depth discussions on topics such as international economic relations in an era of uncertainty, the future role of international economic institutions, geopolitical changes, and the international monetary system.
At the opening ceremony, Zhang Liping, Vice President of SDRF and former Chairman of Guosheng Group, delivered a speech on behalf of one of the organizers. He pointed out that the high tariffs implemented under the Trump administration's "America First" policy have impacted global supply chains and shaken the post-war US-led international economic and financial order. The wave of multipolarity, geopolitics, and geoeconomics are intertwined, and the globalization process faces an unprecedentedly complex landscape. Benjamin Reichenbach, Director of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Shanghai Representative Office also addressed the forum, reviewing the history of cooperation between the two organizations and pointing out that the world is moving from an era of liberalization and globalization to a geopolitical era. The new trade policies of the Trump era mark the arrival of the “post-US world economic era.”
In the keynote speech session, Zhang Junkui, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Chairman of the China Development Research Foundation, delivered a keynote speech entitled " Unswervingly Do Our Own Things Well ". He believes that the two most decisive factors for high-quality development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period are: First, further unleashing the enormous potential of domestic demand and promoting a high-level dynamic balance between total supply and demand. China's manufacturing scale is among the world's leading, and the main contradiction in economic operation has shifted from the supply side to the demand side. Expanding domestic demand must be prioritized. This can be achieved through reforming social security, improving the supply of service consumption, stabilizing new real estate models, and vigorously boosting private and foreign investment, creating a virtuous cycle between consumption and investment, and providing a stable and sustainable foundation for economic growth. Second, accelerating the achievement of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, solving both "bottleneck" problems and enhancing basic research capabilities, laying the foundation for long-term innovation. It is necessary to promote the integrated reform of education, science and technology, and talent systems and mechanisms, create a globally competitive innovation ecosystem, and improve the overall effectiveness of the national innovation system while ensuring self-reliance and security, injecting lasting momentum into high-quality development.
John Lipsky, Professor at Johns Hopkins University and former First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, delivered a keynote speech entitled " Complexity and Contradictions in the Emerging Global Order". He pointed out that Trump 2.0 policies have brought greater uncertainty and complexity to the global economy, with challenges such as economic growth, high public debt, an aging population, technological change, and digital financial risks urgently needing to be addressed. There are only two paths forward: either cooperative, rules-based institutional solutions, or a self-sufficient, ad-hoc approach. History has proven that only cooperation can truly solve problems.
Douglas Paal, Distinguished Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, delivered a keynote speech entitled " International Economic Relations in an Era of Uncertainty". He pointed out that the prominent feature of our time is uncertainty, rooted both in profound changes in the international landscape and in the dramatic transformation of information dissemination methods. He believes that political elites in various countries have failed to fully understand the benefits of the World Trade Organization and have failed to explain its principles to the public. On trade rules and international cooperation, like-minded countries need to join hands and build viable alliances.
The following are three sessions: "International Economic Relations in an Era of Uncertainty ", "Navigating New Realities: The Future Role of International Economic Institutions", "Geopolitical Shifts and the Global Monetary System".
The successful holding of this forum has built a high-level platform for intellectual exchange among various sectors in China and abroad, forming many constructive consensuses around the international economic order at a crossroads, and providing important references for exploring pathways for global economic governance reform and international cooperation.