The 13th Beijing Humboldt Forum took place Sept. 20-21 at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, bringing together global experts, business leaders and diplomats to discuss green economy growth, health management and Global South cooperation.

In his opening remarks, UIBE Party Secretary Huang Baoyin said that cross-border green collaboration and partnerships with Global South nations have gained widespread global support amid sweeping geopolitical and economic shifts.

Huang added the university is integrating its traditional strengths in economics, management and law with emerging research tracks. It has expanded interdisciplinary programs focused on low-carbon energy economics and international development cooperation, and ramped up training for interdisciplinary talent.

UIBE Vice President Wang Qiang presided over the opening ceremony.

Former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel delivered pre-recorded remarks for the forum. Other speakers spanned government, academia and media, including Yu Changxue, director of the China Center for International People-to-People Exchange under the Ministry of Education; Ralf Wehrspohn, director of the German Institute for Technologies and Economics of Lithium; Liang Yangchun, president of Management World Magazine; Pravich Rattanapian, chairman of the Council of Rattana Bundit University; Jeremias Paul, head of the Fiscal Policies for Health Unit at World Health Organization headquarters; Bruno Angelet, Belgian ambassador to China; Hodan Osman Abdi, Somali Ambassador to China; Irina, president of the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy; and Xue Jinjun, Distinguished Professor at School of Economics of Nagoya University and a founding member of the Beijing Humboldt Forum.

During the annual report release session, Andreas Löschel, professor of Ruhr University Bochum and a member of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering, analyzed economic transition financing through a behavioral finance lens.

UIBE President Zhao Zhongxiu delivered a keynote speech on seizing new opportunities to pursue innovative growth in service trade in the new era, noting China's fast-expanding service trade industry facilitates the country's push to build the country into a trade power.

UIBE also signed an academic exchange and cooperation memorandum with Rattana Bundit University during the forum's opening ceremony.

The forum covers nine parallel sub-forums focusing on health fiscal policy, lithium value chains, South-South cooperation, country and region studies, Korean language education, APEC connectivity, global academic networking and international higher education hub development.

More than 100 scholars, business leaders and diplomatic officials from Germany, Austria, the U.S., Japan, and Thailand attended the forum.