Michael Kahn-Ackermann, Stiftung Mercator China Special Representative

Josef Janning is a leading political scientist and researcher in Germany. His expertise and research interests cover a wide range of topical issues such as German foreign policy, EU policy, and European integration, as reflected in his numerous publications and essays. He has been a member and chair of various study groups on European affairs, east-west and Mediterranean issues, security policy, and transatlantic relations. From 1985 to 2001, Janning was engaged in building university-based public policy think tanks at the University of Mainz and the University of Munich. Between 1995 and 2007 he served as deputy director of the University of Munich’s Center for Applied Policy Research. Between 2001 and 2010 he headed the Bertelsmann Foundation’s international program as its senior director. From 2011 to 2012, Janning served as director of studies of the European Policy Centre (EPC), a Brussels-based think tank. In 2013, he joined the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) as Mercator Fellow of the Alfred von Oppenheim Center for European Policy Studies. He is also a German government advisor on European affairs, a member of the Scientific Advisory Council at the International Centre for Transition Studies in Italy and board member of several policy journals. Janning has taught international relations at the University of Bonn and University Mainz. He has acted as a guest professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Renmin University in Beijing.

Yu Keping serves as professor and director of the Center for Chinese Government Innovations at Peking University and as professor and director of the Institute of Political Development at Tsinghua University. He has been a visiting professor and senior fellow at many top universities, including Harvard University and Duke University in the US and the Free University of Berlin. His research fields include political philosophy, comparative politics, globalization, civil society, and governance and politics in China. In addition to his academic work, he has acted as a Chinese government advisor on political reform. He has written several books, including the widely acclaimed Democracy and Rule of Law in China and Democracy Is a Good Thing. As a leading intellectual in China, Yu was selected in 2008 as one of the “30 most influential figures in the past 30 years since the reform in China” and ranked 19 in the “2011 Global Top 100 Thinkers” by Foreign Policy magazine.

The Mercator Salon is a series of Beijing events run by Stiftung Mercator. The salons provide a platform for Chinese and Europeans to exchange ideas and opinions on topical issues relevant to culture and society. The inaugural Mercator Salons were held at UCCA, first in October 2012 with the theme “Cultural Metropolis – Metropolitan Culture” and then in June of 2013 with the theme “Money and Happiness.” For more information on the Mercator Salon, please visit www.mercator-salon.com.

Stiftung Mercator

Stiftung Mercator is one of the largest private foundations in Germany. It pursues clearly defined objectives in its thematic clusters of integration, climate change, and arts education. The foundation achieves these objectives through a combination of socio-political advocacy and practical work. Stiftung Mercator implements its own projects and supports external projects in its centers for science and the humanities, education, and international affairs. It takes an entrepreneurial, professional, and international approach to its work.

China is the most important new political and economic actor in the emerging multipolar world and a country with extraordinary potential. Simply put, international development is no longer conceivable without China. This demands a better and more nuanced understanding of the realities of China, especially in Germany. Therefore, the foundation hopes to establish long-term partnerships and cooperative ventures. Stiftung Mercator funds several different projects in China: school and youth exchanges, cross-cultural encounters, and fellowship programs for young managers in civil society, politics, academia, and business.

Visit www.stiftung-mercator.de/en for more information.