18th GW China Conference | December 4 2026
18TH ANNUAL GW CHINA CONFERENCE
China’s Economic Development and U.S.–China Economic Relations
Friday, December 4, 2026 | 9:00 AM-5:00 PM
Elliott School of International Affairs | 1957 E Street NW
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The GW China Conference brings together scholars and policy experts to examine China’s economic development, U.S.–China economic relations, and their implications for the global economy. Hosted by GW’s Institute for International Economic Policy, the 18th annual conference will explore China’s green industrial strategy, supply chains and industrial policy, and finance. The agenda and speaker line-up will be announced shortly.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
Jessica Chen Weiss
David M. Lampton Professor of China Studies, Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies; Inaugural Faculty Director, Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs (ACF) at SAIS. Learn more.
Kelly Sims Gallagher
Dean and Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy at The Fletcher School, Tufts University; Co-director, Climate Policy Lab and the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at Fletcher. Learn more.
- Martin Chorzempa, Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Michael Davidson, Associate Professor, UC San Diego
- Jingting Fan, Associate Professor in Economics, CKGSB
- Kelly Sims Gallagher, Dean and Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
- Ho-fung Hung, Henry M. and Elizabeth P. Wiesenfeld Professor in Political Economy, JHU SAIS
- Fariha Kamal, Principal Economist, Federal Reserve Board of Governors
- Joanna Lewis, Professor of Energy and Environment, Georgetown University
- Ilaria Mazzocco, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics, CSIS
- Ryan Monarch, Associate Professor, Syracuse University
- Jessica Chen Weiss, David M. Lampton Professor of China Studies, Johns Hopkins SAIS
- Logan Wright, Partner, Rhodium Group
- Maggie Chen, Professor of Economics, GW
- Stephen Kaplan, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GW
- Steve Suranovic, Associate Professor of Economics and International Affairs, GW
- Chao Wei, Associate Professor of Economics, GW
About the Conference
The GW China Conference on China's Economic Development and US-China Economic Relations conference features leading scholars from the U.S., China, and other countries, who present research on a wide range of issues. Conference sessions have addressed a wide range of topics such as the prospects for China’s continued growth; financial liberalization; trade imbalances and practices; retirement patterns and pension reform; industrial clusters; gender imbalances; the rural-urban development balance and patterns of poverty reduction; labor migration; and China’s role in international development financing. The conference has become a leading forum for experts in the research and policy community to improve understanding of issues critical to China, the U.S., and the global economy.
The 17th edition was hosted in partnership with the University of Hong Kong’s Asia Global Institute and HKU’s Centre on Contemporary China and the World. The conference brought leading economic scholars together to discuss this year's theme, "Global Impacts on the U.S.–China Economic Relationship." View the recordings here.