The Slavic Research Centre and the Euro-Asian Social Development Research Institute at the Development Research Center of the State Council in China co-hosted a joint forum in Beijing on January 11th. We had the honour of having the former Ambassador to Russia, Mr. Li Feng Lin, as well as Japanese and Chinese experts specializing in Slavic Eurasia in attendance to promote a dialogue among area and regional studies scholars in both countries and exchange opinions. Former Ambassador Li mentioned at the end of the forum that, “This was our first attempt in organizing such forum. We look forward to a more intense and vigorous discussion on specific issues in the next forum.” The plan for the next forum is already in progress. This forum has been supported by the Global COE Programme “Reshaping Japan’s Border Studies” and “Comparative Research on Regional Powers in Eurasia.”

Such kind of joint ventures are part of the SRC’s ongoing efforts that have beencoordinated between SRC and Seoul National University in Korea and the Brookings Institute in the U.S and we will continue to facilitate dialogues with our various counterparts around the world.