The Beijing Humboldt Forum (BHF) held its annual meeting via video link to discuss the development of China's green economy and the goals of carbon neutrality and emission reduction from Sept. 25 to 26.

Under the theme "Green Economy, Cultural Heritage, Carbon Neutrality and Emission Reduction," 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) and the Fraunhofer Society (FhG).

Jiang Qingzhe, party chief of UIBE and president of the BHF's Academic Board, addressed the opening session of the forum via video link. In his speech, Jiang stressed that the essence of the "dual carbon" goals lies in developing a green, low-carbon and circular economy. He added that UIBE will continue to leverage its disciplinary strength for coordinating natural resources and the major needs of society to make its due contribution to China's goals of achieving peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality.

During the annual event, professor Dong Xiucheng, director of the UIBE Belt & Road Energy Trade and Development Center and executive director of the China International Low Carbon Economy Research Institute, shared his views on China's energy transition. Professor Achim Wambach, president of the ZEW, also delivered a keynote speech, titled "Digital Giants and New Developments in Europe" via video link.

In-depth discussions were carried out in nine parallel sessions on such topics as the "new pattern of energy and low-carbon economic development under the 'dual carbon' goals," "green economy, cultural heritage and youth education" and "international order and global governance amid the pandemic."

Nearly 2,000 renowned experts and scholars from China, Germany, Austria, Japan, France, Italy and the United States joined the forum sessions.

The BHF is an international conference with a non-profit background that deals with the green economy and its interaction with cultural heritage, which takes place every September at UIBE in Beijing. Since its establishment in 2013 by UIBE, the BHF has been dedicated to offering a unique platform for interdisciplinary exchange among academic researchers, industry leaders and policymakers from China, Europe and other countries.