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 conference 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.
This event 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 key 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, Economics and Security", will address 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,” will focus 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, will deliver the lecture: “The EU’s Dark Moment: 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 table discussions. 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.
