China Economic and Social Forum 2026 Opens in Hangzhou

Hangzhou (GNP): The China Economic and Social Forum 2026 opened on Tuesday at Westlake Villa Hangzhou, bringing together senior Chinese officials and international delegates under the theme “Improving the Global Governance System and Building a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity.” The day began with a buffet breakfast before proceedings moved to the Jinhua Hall for the forum’s Opening Ceremony.

The Opening Ceremony was moderated by Liu Jieyi, Vice Chairman of the China Economic and Social Council (CESC), and featured a keynote speech from Wang Dongfeng, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Chairman of the CESC.

Following the keynote, remarks were delivered by Essam Farid, Speaker of the Senate of Egypt, and Wang Hao, Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Zhejiang Provincial Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Congress.

The session continued with a theme speech from Surakiart Sathirathai, former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Thailand and Chairman of the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council.

Further theme speeches were delivered by Shi Yigong, Member of the National Committee of the CPPCC, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Vice President of the China Association for Science and Technology and President of Westlake University, alongside Guy Louis Bertrand Mapangou, President of the Economic, Social, Environmental and Cultural Council of Gabon.

Following a tea break, the forum moved into its Invited Speech session, moderated by Hong Liang, Vice Chairman of the CESC. The session brought together six speakers representing a broad range of international economic and social councils and advisory bodies.

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Chairman of the National Economic Council of the Republic of Indonesia, opened the session, followed by Lian Yimin, Member of the National Committee of the CPPCC and Chairman of the CPPCC Zhejiang Provincial Committee.

The remaining speakers reflected the forum’s international scope. Séamus Boland, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Chief Executive Officer of Irish Rural Link and Chair of the Peatlands Council, addressed the session as an independent expert of the Just Transition Commission.

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He was followed by Qiu Hong, Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese of the National Committee of the CPPCC and Executive Member of the CESC, who previously served as Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR).

Rounding out the session, Ioannis Paidas, President of the International Association of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions (AICESIS) and a member of the Civil Society Organisations Group of the EESC, shared perspectives from the global civil society sector.

The final address came from Zhang Hecheng, Member of the National Committee of the CPPCC, former Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Dean of the Rural Revitalization Academy of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

The forum’s opening day set out its focus on global governance reform and shared development priorities through a programme that paired Chinese state and provincial leadership with an international roster of economic councils, civil society representatives and government officials from Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia, Gabon, Ireland and the European Union framework.