Opportunities in a Changing Landscape | Mingde Forum 2023 Successfully Held

1Mingde Forum 2023 Held in New York, Bringing Together RUC Alumni and Experts to Explore the Global Economic and Investment Outlook

On November 11, 2023, Mingde Forum 2023, hosted by the RUC North America Alumni Association, was successfully held at the Harvard Club of New York City. Professor Lin Shangli, President of Renmin University of China, delivered a video address. Yu Yougen, Education Counselor at the Consulate General of China in New York, attended the event and offered congratulations. More than 130 RUC alumni and distinguished guests from across North America attended the forum.

Founded by the RUC North America Alumni Association in 2015, the Mingde Forum is a flagship platform that combines academic insight with practical perspectives while embracing openness and diversity. The 2023 event marked the Forum’s ninth annual meeting. Under the theme “Opportunities in a Changing Landscape: Global Economic and Investment Outlook,” eleven speakers from the fields of economic research, financial investment, and industrial investment engaged in in-depth discussions on new perspectives on the macroeconomy and emerging factors shaping investment decisions.

Video Address by President Lin Shangli

In his video address, President Lin Shangli congratulated the Forum on its opening, extended his sincere greetings to the participating guests, alumni, and friends, both new and old, and expressed his appreciation to the RUC North America Alumni Association for its dedicated efforts in organizing the event.

President Lin noted that the Mingde Forum has consistently focused on current issues, created platforms for exchange, and promoted mutual learning and dialogue. Through its efforts to strengthen alumni connections and engage deeply with major global issues, the Forum has achieved impressive results and made important contributions to enhancing Renmin University of China’s international influence and global voice.

▶ Watch the video (see original article)

President Lin Shangli Sends Video Congratulations on the Successful Opening of Mingde Forum 2023

President Lin said that the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. The historical trends toward peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit remain unstoppable, while traditional and non-traditional security challenges have become increasingly intertwined. How to strengthen communication and cooperation among countries, address common challenges facing humanity, and work together to advance world peace and development is a major question that requires continued reflection and exploration.

President Lin called for continued efforts to develop the Mingde Forum into a platform for intellectual exchange and mutual learning—one that keeps pace with the times, focuses on emerging developments, and brings together Chinese and international scholars and experts to examine global economics, financial markets, international relations, and other topics from multiple perspectives, fostering the exchange of ideas and the pooling of collective wisdom.

He also encouraged the Forum to serve as a leading platform for conveying Chinese perspectives, taking China and the times as points of reference while engaging deeply with major questions concerning humanity’s shared future, and contributing Chinese approaches, Chinese experience, and Chinese perspectives to addressing global challenges.

At the same time, he called for the Forum to remain a strong bond connecting and uniting RUC alumni, encouraging alumni to work alongside the University at the forefront of the new era and contribute the strength of RUC to building a world that is open, inclusive, interconnected, and committed to shared development in the face of global risks and challenges.

Opening Remarks

Dawson Lee (Class of 1982), Chairman of the RUC North America Alumni Association and President of Benimax Investment, officially opened the Forum. He noted that with a China-U.S. summit meeting approaching and the 2024 U.S. presidential election on the horizon, it was particularly meaningful for RUC alumni, experts, and scholars to come together at the Mingde Forum in North America and engage in discussions about the challenges facing the world.

He expressed his hope that the exchange of ideas among the speakers would provide new insights and inspiration. On behalf of the Council, he also thanked alumni-founded companies for their sponsorship and support, as well as the volunteers for their dedicated efforts.

Yu Yougen, Education Counselor at the Consulate General of China in New York, conveyed congratulations on behalf of the Consulate. He expressed appreciation to the RUC North America Alumni Association and RUC alumni across North America for their support of the University’s development, their attention to China’s educational reform, and their concern for the growth of Chinese students.

Counselor Yu said that the Mingde Forum has created an excellent platform for exchange and makes full use of Renmin University’s strengths in disciplines such as economics and management. He expressed hope that two-way exchanges between China and the United States would become increasingly frequent, that more Americans would visit and engage with China, and that RUC alumni would strengthen their connections and make positive contributions.

Liu Quan (Class of 1998), Advisor to the RUC North America Alumni Association and Chairman of Beijing United Information Technology Co., delivered remarks. He said:

“Once again this year, we have gathered at the Harvard Club for this grand occasion. Here in Manhattan, the heart of the global economy, we are connected by our alma mater as we look toward the future. It is truly an honor.”

He noted that the theme “Opportunities in a Changing Landscape: Global Economic and Investment Outlook” was particularly timely amid the many political and economic uncertainties facing the world. Looking at the present while envisioning the future, he said, is guided by the University’s motto of seeking truth from facts and represents a responsibility that RUC alumni should embrace.

Keynote Address

Li Shanquan (Class of 1982), Senior Portfolio Manager at Invesco, delivered the keynote address, exploring the relationship between cross-industry interaction and financial development.

He argued that expansion and penetration are fundamental characteristics of development in virtually every field, while innovation and breakthroughs often begin at the margins and emerge through the combination or integration of different fields. Finance follows a similar pattern. The penetration of high technology into finance is a prominent example: cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin, ETFs and passive investing, high-frequency trading and quantitative products, and artificial intelligence are all reshaping existing investment models.

Li also discussed constraints on financial development, including legal and regulatory restrictions, industry self-regulation under increasingly specialized divisions of labor, and the growing importance of ESG as a screening factor in European fund markets.

He noted that the expansion of finance into other industries has also brought characteristics such as a lack of order, the shortening of long-term objectives into short-term goals, and the transformation of mutual funds into ETFs.

As uncertainty continues to increase and traditional expectations become less reliable, Li emphasized the importance of understanding the underlying causes of change while seeking ways to address them. He encouraged participants to gather extensive, detailed, first-hand information in order to reduce information distortion.

Panel Discussions

Following the keynote, Li Shanquan, Corebridge Financial Chief Economist Mo Hengyong, Citigroup Managing Director Wang Meijun, USSA International Americas MAPS Head Cen Ming (Class of 1997), DoubleTree Investment Partners Partner Liu Wu, and Bridger Investment Partners Chief Investment Officer Li Xiangyang participated in the panel discussion “New Perspectives on the Macroeconomy.” Wu Yafeng (Class of 1995), President of the RUC North America Alumni Association and President of Next Ridges, moderated the discussion.

Regarding the global economic outlook for 2024, most panelists expressed a cautious view. They noted that the disruption of globalized divisions of labor following the pandemic has raised the overall cost of operating the global economy. As countries place national security above economic considerations, often at significant cost, inflation has become more difficult to manage through monetary policy alone.

The panelists also observed that the recovery of the U.S. labor market may be approaching its later stages, while recent weakness in labor-market data suggests that recession risks remain. In light of expectations for further rate cuts in 2024, long-term interest rates could remain elevated in the near term and decline more slowly than short-term rates.

Interest rates are affecting consumers through both housing and non-housing debt. Credit-card delinquency rates in the United States have been rising more rapidly, while the impact of higher rates on commercial real estate has continued to worsen, contributing to historically low occupancy rates.

The panelists also discussed the effects of interest rates on private equity and global M&A activity. At the same time, macroeconomic indicators such as tighter lending standards and an inverted yield curve were seen as pointing to potentially attractive entry opportunities. Given the substantial increase in yields, together with the economic growth and inflation outlook, panelists expressed a constructive view of private credit. At the current stage of the economic cycle, they suggested that credit investments could offer an appealing risk-return profile relative to equity investments, while emphasizing that risks remain.

Dawson Lee, Xu Youyu, Managing Partner of GardenStar Group, Gao Zibing (Class of 2007), Managing Director at EJF Capital, Liu Ruoke (Class of 2001), Partner at Morgan Lewis, and Xie Lei (Class of 2002), Head of Research and Portfolio Manager at Cubist Systematic, participated in the panel discussion “New Elements in Investment Decision-Making.” Liu Jing (Class of 1993, graduate program), Vice President of the RUC North America Alumni Association and Managing Director at JStar Capital, moderated the discussion.

The panelists noted that some real estate investments have maintained high occupancy rates and stable rent growth largely because high mortgage rates have prevented younger people from purchasing homes, leading them to remain renters. With fewer new projects coming onto the market, pressure on the market is expected to ease over the following two to three years. Panelists expressed a constructive view of the fourth quarter of the following year and selected U.S. regional markets.

On AI and emerging technologies, panelists discussed the possibility that AI could replace certain human skills while emphasizing that human beings themselves would not be replaced by AI. They noted that the impact of AI and new technologies on investment warrants close attention. In real estate, for example, applications are emerging in areas ranging from kitchen design and the placement of electrical outlets to community planning for EV charging stations and determining the most effective locations for advertising. AI-powered responses to tenant inquiries have also become an increasingly common application.

The panelists also examined differences in ESG investing between China and the United States from a regulatory perspective. In China, ESG places greater emphasis on environmental governance, while in the United States, ESG encompasses environmental, social, and corporate governance considerations, as well as factors such as shareholder structure. They also discussed the emergence of anti-ESG movements in parts of the United States and the importance of distinguishing substantive ESG practices from political messaging.

Closing Remarks

At the conclusion of the Forum, Yue Jingsheng (Class of 1982), former Chairman of the RUC North America Alumni Association, and Wu Yafeng, President of the Association, delivered closing remarks.

Yue Jingsheng said that sustaining the Mingde Forum for nine consecutive years had been no easy task. Each year’s events remained vivid in his memory, and there was something special about RUC alumni coming together. The saying, “Even if I have nothing, I still have my fellow RUC alumni,” had become a memorable expression of the bonds among alumni.

He remarked that meeting so many familiar faces at the Mingde Forum was not because the world was small, but because Renmin University is a big family. He encouraged everyone to continue supporting the RUC North America Alumni Association and to look forward to the 10th Mingde Forum in 2024.

In his closing remarks, Wu Yafeng said that the Mingde Forum helps participants gain substantive insights, engage in deeper reflection, and explore the principles of serving society and the greater good. It also embodies the sense of responsibility and commitment to the country and society among RUC alumni, as well as the meaning of “Mingde”:

“Through debate, discussion, and analysis, we seek to investigate things and attain knowledge; through learning from one another, we seek to cultivate ourselves and bring harmony to our families; through offering ideas and contributing to our country, we aspire to benefit the world.”

Wu noted that the University had announced the establishment of the Alumni Academy and the Shaanxi-Gong University Hall that year, using the influence of alumni associations to integrate alumni resources across generations, schools, and regions, while drawing on the University’s academic heritage, disciplinary strengths, and think-tank platforms to promote lifelong learning.

From this perspective, he said, the Mingde Forum—now in its ninth consecutive year—closely aligns with the University’s commitment to lifelong learning.

Wu noted that President Lin’s video address had set higher expectations for the RUC North America Alumni Association. These expectations, he said, represent both the University’s confidence in the Association and an internal driving force for its continued development. The Association will continue its efforts to make the Mingde Forum a premier forum for RUC alumni around the world.

“We take Mingde as our name, remain committed to its spirit, make Mingde a habit, and keep learning throughout our lives,” Wu Yafeng said.

Written by Zhang Yong

Mingde Forum 2023 Organizing Committee

Advisors: Fan Xiwen, Dawson Lee, Li Shanquan, Liu Jing, Liu Quan, Yue Jingsheng

Chair: Wu Yafeng

Committee Members: Feng Xuejiao, Feng Zhuo, Huang Beiqing, Jiang Xinyi, Lai Yun, Li Qian, Li Yang, Liao Kai, Lin Ping, Lu Cuili, Luo Kan, Nian Yiqun, Zhang Yong, Zhu Hongjie

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