The eighth Beijing Humboldt Forum (BHF) opened on Sep. 20. Due to the global COVID-19 crisis, this year's forum was held online.

Under the theme "Green Economy, Cultural Heritage, and Global Governance," the BHF webinar was hosted by the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and jointly organized by the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the Fraunhofer Society (FhG), and the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria.

UIBE party chief Jiang Qingzhe addressed the opening session of the BHF via a short video. In his speech, Jiang welcomed the experts and scholars from around the world to discuss ways of leveraging the strength of scientific and technological development as well as innovation to help promote high-quality economic and social development during this year's forum.

The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 and the continuing trade frictions between China and the United States have posed great challenges to the lives and safety of the people around the world and to the sound development of the world economy, said UIBE president Xia Wenbin in his opening speech video. "We need to be aware that it is important for the world's people to work together and deepen reforms of the global governance system to address global challenges," Xia added.

In-depth discussions were carried out in eight parallel sessions on topics such as the energy and low-carbon economy, global governance amid deep changes not seen in a century, development of the international economy and trade in the new global context, cooperation between governments and social capital from a global perspective, the challenge COVID-19 poses to domestic politics and international order, innovation systems in Eurasian metropolises in the 21st century, and development of the green economy amid climate change.

More than a thousand renowned experts, scholars, and representatives from governments and businesses from countries like China, Germany, Austria, the United States, Japan, and Brazil joined various forum sessions.

Since its establishment in 2013 by UIBE, BHF has been dedicated to becoming the world's leading green economy and culture forum. The forum looks to foster science, technology, academic, and human cultural exchange among academic researchers, industry leaders, and policymakers from China, Europe, and other countries.