04 November 2025
Bilbao Campus
The University of Deusto, in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence and through its Department of International Relations, held on 4 November the 8th Security and Development Conference under the title “China: Power in Transition, Contemporary Challenges and Strategic Opportunities”. The conference aimed to examine China’s role in the international system, with particular focus on its implications for diplomacy, the global economy, security, and the geopolitical configuration of the Indo-Pacific.
The event brought together national and international experts, including Petronor’s president Emiliano López Atxurra, and provided a space for academic and institutional exchange to analyse the challenges and opportunities arising from China’s rise as a central actor in global dynamics. The programme was structured around two complementary panels that provided a comprehensive overview of China's role in the international system.
The first panel, entitled "China's Strategy: Diplomacy, Economics and Security", addressed issues of China's economic diplomacy, investment network and global influence; strategic competition with India; the strategic challenge posed by China and the reconfiguration of the global order from the perspective of the United States; maritime security and tensions in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific; and China's military competition with other major powers.
This panel will feature Zhang Xiaotong, Director of the China and Central Asia Studies Centre; Patrizia Cogo, researcher in India’s foreign policy and Indo-Pacific geopolitics; Luis Schenoni, Director of the Security Studies Programme at University College London; Wang-pin Lin, from the Institute of Political Science at National Sun Yat-sen University (Taiwan); and Captain Eduardo Matres, from the Ministry of Defence of the Government of Spain.
The second panel, “China and the Transformation of the World Order: Rivalries, Alliances and Balances,” focused on China’s technological and economic impact and its implications for Europe, as well as on the doctrine and adaptation of China’s national security in a multipolar world. In this session, Emiliano López Atxurra, President of Petronor, took part with the presentation: “EU’s Dark Moment. The OSC, Atlantic Solidarity and the New Geoeconomic Order.” Other speakers included Julio Ceballos, author and expert consultant on China Strategy and Internationalisation; Helena Legarda, lead analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies; and Captain Abel Romero, from the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies (IEEE), who analysed the impact of China as a maritime power.
The Conference started at 9:30 in the Ellacuría Room (CRAI Library), led by representatives from the University of Deusto and the Ministry of Defence. This was followed by two roundtable discussions. The conference concluded with the presentation of the conclusions by the panel moderators, Professors Sergio Caballero and Andrés Rodríguez, who offered a cross-disciplinary synthesis of the topics discussed, highlighting their implications for public policy, academic analysis, and the business environment.
