For the first time in its 17-year history, the Tsinghua Business Journalism Forum was held outside of Beijing. On November 15, the Global Business Journalism program co-sponsored the high-level international forum – our most important annual event – at the National Press Club in Washington.
The forum was held at the most famous journalism venue in the American capital a day after GBJ leaders attended the 40th anniversary gala of the International Center for Journalists, the founding partner of the GBJ program and the current managing partner.
More than 20 journalists, academics and business analysts from the United States, China and around the world discussed this year's topic: the impact of Donald Trump's impending return to the White House on China-United States economic relations. The roster included National Press Club president Emily Wilkins, CNBC's congressional correspondent and Global Business Journalism co-directors Rick Dunham and Hang Min.
Other program participants included:
Xianlai Deng, Washington Correspondent, Xinhua News Agency
Ching-Yi Chang, White House Correspondent, Shanghai Media Group
Leslie Wayne, Contributing writer, The New York Times; Business journalism professor, Columbia Journalism School
Scott Lanman, Managing Editor, Economic Data, Bloomberg News
Anand Naidoo, Anchor, CGTN America’s “The Heat,” CGTN’s Washington, D.C., Bureau
Yan Jin, Washington Bureau Chief, Caijing Magazine
Doug Harbrecht, Former President, National Press Club, Online News Editor, Business Week
Cary O'Reilly, longtime foreign correspondent and team leader, Bloomberg News
Mark Schoeff Jr., Financial Services and Financial Technology Reporter, CQ Roll Call
Kristiina Helenius, Washington-based business executive; Former Finnish journalist and diplomat; editorial contributor, POLITICO
Pam Tobey, former graphics editor, The Washington Post; former Visual Director, Beijing Review
Zichen Wang, Author, Pekingnology newsletter; Research fellow, Center for China and Globalization (CCG)
Ivy Yang, Founder, Wavelet Strategy; Columnist, FT Chinese; Writer, Calling the Shots newsletter
Jin Ding, Chief Executive Officer, Initium Media
Jane Sasseen, Executive Director, McGraw Center for Business Journalism, The City University of New York; Former Reporter and Editor, Business Week, and Forbes
Tao Lu, Director, American News Center, Phoenix Satellite Television
Eric Fish, Author; Freelance journalist, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, The Diplomat, and The Telegraph
The three panels were moderated by Tsinghua Associate Professor Kuang Kai, National Press Club Journalism Institute president Gilbert Klein, emeritus director of the University of Oklahoma's Washington journalism program, and Todd Gillman, director, of the Washington Bureau of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
Tsinghua's journalism school dean, Zhou Qing'an, offered a welcome statement to the forum.
"Today, the global economic landscape is undergoing severe challenges and profound shifts," he declared. "On one hand, changes in the geopolitical environment and the spread of a few significant conflicts worldwide are placing immense pressure on global shipping, supply chains, and trade structures. On the other hand, the rise of unilateralism has led nations to closely scrutinize the impacts of such policies on their domestic economies and trade structures. In this context, the role of business journalism has become more crucial than ever."
After a day of comprehensive conversations, the group was in agreement that conflict is inevitable amid threats of tariffs and likely retaliation. Managing the coming period of uncertainty will be crucial for both governments and for companies in China and the United States alike. Explaining the situation factually – and fairly – will be a crucial challenge for journalists in both nations.
