EVENTS

The seminar will discuss present sentiments of European businesses in China and their outlook for the future, based on a recent business confidence survey conducted among the 1,800 companies, which are members of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC). The talk will also explicate upon the increasingly tense trade agenda between the European Union and China, and its implications. The presentation will make an assessment of the current state of the relationship and discuss the root causes of these tensions. Finally, the talk will attempt to project the possible future trajectories of EU-China relations.

About the Speaker

Jens Eskelund is former Chairman of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China as well as the Maritime Working Group of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC). He has been active in the EUCCC since 2001 and was elected president of the EUCCC in May 2023. He is Chief Representative for Maersk in the Greater China Area and North- East Asia. Prior to this, he held positions as General Manager for Public Affairs for Maersk Line in China and later Director of Public Affairs for North Asia. He holds an MA in philosophy and has studied at University of Aarhus and University of Texas at Austin. He has also pursued studies in Chinese at Renmin University in Beijing. His primary focus areas comprise engaging government entities, institutions, trade associations and Chinese enterprises on matters of policy, regulatory environment, decarbonisation and business development on behalf of the companies within the Maersk Group.

About the Discussant

Santosh Pai is a cross-border lawyer, dual qualified in India and the UK, who offers legal services to foreign investors in India, including those from China and Taiwan. He is a partner at Dentons Link Legal, an Indian law firm, a member of the Core Group on China of the Confederation of Indian Industry, and Treasurer and Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies. His areas of interest include Chinese investments in India, India-China comparative law and policy, cross- cultural negotiations and board governance. He holds a B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) degree from NLSIU, Bangalore, LL.M. (Chinese law) from Tsinghua University, Beijing and an MBA from Vlerick University, Belgium (Peking University campus). His publications include Arbitration Law and Practice in India (China Legal Publishing House, 2021), and Legal Guide for Taiwanese Investors in India (Yuan Zhao, 2023), which have been translated and published in Chinese as well. He has also co-edited Chinese Legal System (1979-2021): Historical Development and Overview (EBC, 2021).

About the Chair

Manmohan Agarwal is an Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, Senior Fellow at Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) and Honorary Fellow, Institute of Studies in Industrial Development. He was a professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where he taught for almost thirty years. He was also a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) at Waterloo, Canada. He also worked for a number of years at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. His research primarily focuses on international economics and development economics. Furthermore, he has worked on the role of current account imbalances in generating the 2008 financial crisis, and the impact of the crisis on developing countries.

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