As China moves from an export-fuelled economy to one that relies on domestic consumption, Wilton Park’s 1000th conference looks at how China’s industrial development can become more sustainable.

The conference, held in the run-up to the international climate change conference on 7-18 December 2009 in Copenhagen, will bring together policy makers, academics and business people from China, the UK, US and Europe to discuss how climate change can be raised on the agenda for China’s political and business leaders. They will analyse how to develop media and public diplomacy strategies and how to set in place mechanisms for continued engagement on these issues that will lead to real progress in the future.

Speakers include:

* Timo Mäkelä, Director for Sustainable Development and Integration at the European Commission
* Professor Zhu Daijan from the Institute of Sustainable Development of Tongyi University in Shanghai
* Hu Zhengrong, Deputy President of the Communications University in Beijing
* Richard Gledhill, Global Leader on Climate Change Services for Price Waterhouse Coopers and
* Jasper Becker, whose recent book ‘Beijing: City of Heavenly Tranquillity’ analyses the impact of China’s rapid growth on urban development.

Wilton Park is an academically independent and non-profit-making executive agency of the FCO. It began its work on 12 January 1946 as part of an initiative inspired by Sir Winston Churchill and holds conferences covering the key political, security and economic issues confronting the world.