04 November 2025
Bilbao Campus
The University of Deusto, in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence and through its Department of International Relations, will hold the 8th Security and Development Conference on 4 November, titled “China: Power in Transition, Contemporary Challenges, and Strategic Opportunities”. The meeting aims to examine China's role in the international system, with a particular focus on its implications for diplomacy, the global economy, security and the geopolitical configuration of the Indo-Pacific.
The seminar will bring together national and international experts, including the president of Petronor, Emiliano López Atxurra, and will provide 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 is structured around two complementary panels that will provide a comprehensive overview of China's role in the international system.
The first panel, entitled "China's Strategy: Diplomacy, Economy and Security", will address China's internal dynamics and its outward projection. The panel will examine China’s economic diplomacy, its weight as a technological and financial power, the evolution of its security doctrine, and tensions in Asia’s strategic maritime environment, including its consolidation as a maritime power and the resulting geopolitical implications.
This panel will feature Zhang Xiaotong, director of the China and Central Asia Studies Center; 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 José Luis Calvo, 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,” will focus on the impact of China’s rise on the global order, examining the responses of the United States, Europe, and other powers, as well as the geoeconomic and military implications of this transformation. In this session, Emiliano López Atxurra, president of Petronor, will give a talk titled: “The Dark Moment of the EU: The OSC, Atlantic Solidarity, and the New Geoeconomic Order". Other speakers include 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 will analyse the impact of China as a maritime power.
The Conference will open at 9:30 in the Ellacuría Room (CRAI Library), led by representatives from the University of Deusto and the Ministry of Defence. This will be followed by two round tables. The conference will conclude at 13:00 with the presentation of the conclusions by the panel moderators, Professors Sergio Caballero and Andrés Rodríguez, who will provide a transdisciplinary summary of the topics discussed, highlighting their implications for public policy, academic analysis, and the business environment.
