The 9th World Peace Forum will be held in Tsinghua University from July 2nd to 4th with the theme of "International Security Cooperation in the Post-Pandemic Era—Protecting and Practicing Multilateralism". Former political figures, diplomatic envoys in China and heads of think tanks from many countries will hold discussions on the crisis of an unseen-in-a-century pandemic and deglobalization, seizing opportunities while addressing challenges, putting forward creative solutions, and promoting multi-tiered and multi-sectoral cooperation among the international community.

This forum takes various forms, including online meetings, hybrid meetings and offline meetings. By June 25, seven former foreign politicians had confirmed that they would attend this forum online, the embassies of 69 countries in China had accepted the invitation, 58 permanent or temporary heads of mission would attend the live opening ceremony, and 106 think tank scholars from 12 countries would participate in the discussion through hybrid meetings.

The World Peace Forum adheres to openness, inclusiveness, freedom and equality, and provides a platform for participants from all countries to express their views, exchange ideas and expound plans. It consists of two plenaries, two plenary panels, one luncheon speech and 21 group discussions, covering issues on global, regional and thematic security. Global issues, such as the influence of Sino-US relations on the international order, geopolitics in the digital age, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as well as global economic recovery, will be covered. Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific security cooperation, the reconstruction of China-India mutual trust, BRICS countries and global governance, and other regional issues will be elaborated. In addition, views on multiple themes, such as strategic arms reduction, artificial intelligence and its influence on international security, and the global impact of tech “decoupling” will be examined.

The World Peace Forum, founded in 2012, is a non-governmental annual forum on international security hosted by Tsinghua University and co-organized by the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs. To date, it has held eight annual offline meetings, and in 2020, due to COVID-19, a special video conference was held instead.

Editors: Li Han, Sangeet, John Olbrich, Guo Lili