TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2009

THE GLOBAL ECONOMY - FALL 2009 SERIES

PART III

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THE CHINESE CENTURY?
A NEW AGE IN U.S. - CHINA ENGAGEMENT

Niall Booker, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, HSBC - North America, and Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Finance Corporation
Cheng Li, Director of Research and Senior Fellow, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution
Evan Osnos, Staff Writer, The New Yorker

Moderated by Lyric Hughes Hale, Founding Publisher, China Online, Inc.

If the 20th century was America’s, the 21st may well be China’s. A trade giant, formidable economic power, and rising military power with increasing influence in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, China owns the largest foreign portion of U.S. debt at nearly $800 billion dollars. Despite the effects of the global economic crisis, which prompted the Chinese government to roll out a $586 billion dollar stimulus package in November 2008, devoted to infrastructure, social welfare, environmental and technology projects, China has projected over 8% GDP growth for 2009. President Obama, who visited China for the first time this November, has affirmed the importance of the U.S.-China relationship, stating that it “will shape the 21st century.” How will this critical relationship evolve in the coming decade? What will be the future of bilateral economic relations between the superpowers? What will be China’s legacy for the 21st century?

Niall Booker is the deputy chief executive officer for HSBC - North America and chief executive officer (CEO) of HSBC Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations. Since joining HSBC Group in 1981, he has held various positions including CEO of HSBC Bank Middle East, group general manager and CEO India for HSBC, and CEO International Private Banking, Americas. He has extensive experience in both developing markets, where he successfully built up HSBC’s Indian and Middle Eastern franchises, and in developed markets, where he has specialized in turnaround situations and integration. Booker was educated at Trinity College Glenalmond in Scotland and received his master’s degree from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University.

Cheng Li is the director of research and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center. A Shanghai native, Li is also a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. His research focuses on the transformation of political leaders, generational change and technological development in China. Li has published numerous books, including the nationally acclaimed Rediscovering China: Dynamics and Dilemmas of Reform. Li has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and numerous other publications. Li received his M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D.  from Princeton University.

Evan Osnos is a staff writer for The New Yorker and author of the Letter from China blog, based in Beijing. Formerly the Beijing bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune, Osnos served for two years as the Tribune’s Middle East correspondent, during which time he reported mostly from Iraq, covering the U.S. invasion and the insurgency. Osnos has reported from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Israel, China, and the Palestinian territories. His coverage of China has been honored with the Asia Society's Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia, the Overseas Press Club award for coverage of the environment, and the Livingston Award for foreign reporting. Osnos was also a contributor to a Tribune series that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Osnos received his B.A. from Harvard College.

Additional Resources:

• Cheng Li, "Obama’s China Trip: Forging Middle Class Ties," China Brief
• Cheng Li, "China's Team of Rivals," Foreign Policy
• Evan Osnos, "The Price We Pay for China's Boom," Chicago Tribune
• Lyric Hughes Hales and David Hale, "Reconsidering Revaluation," Foreign Affairs

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