Notice

Foreign Direct Investment and Sustainable Urban Development:

The Roles of China and International Organizations

Conference Overview

Date: June 13, 2026

Venue: Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), Beijing

Location: 5^th Floor, Conference House, Library at Beijing Foreign Studies University

Forum organizers: BFSU (China) and ESSCA School of Management (France)

I. Conference Background and Key Themes

Against a backdrop of deep global adjustments and the advancement of the sustainable development agenda, the interaction between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and urban development has become a focal point for scholars, policymakers, and international organizations such as the United Nations (UN). As key nodes for global investment and important places for achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), cities require high-quality FDI that serves green, inclusive, and resilient urban growth. This has also been an area of challenge for global governance and coordination.

The “FDI and Cities Forum” series, initiated by Professor Christopher Williams at ESSCA School of Management, is a platform for sharing knowledge and insights into city-level international investment and its impacts. The Forum has been held six times in the UK, France, and Türkiye it has evolved into an influential international platform for academic and policy exchange.

The 2026 forum will be hosted by the School of International Organizations (SIO) at BFSU in China. It will systematically explore the roles and mechanisms of FDI in the sustainable development of cities, with a special focus on China, as well as the role of international organizations such as the UN. It will emphasize three dimensions:

1. Integrating Chinese Perspectives into Global Governance: As the world's second-largest recipient of FDI, China offers vast urban clusters and rich case studies. The Forum provides an opportunity for scholars to showcase China's experience in utilizing foreign capital for sustainable urban development.

1. Highlighting the Role of International Organizations: Leveraging the disciplinary strengths of BFSU, the Forum will examine the institutional roles of organizations such as UNCTAD, UNDP, and the World Bank in policy coordination, SDG monitoring, and capacity building, while exploring cooperation models between these organizations and Chinese cities.

1. Demonstrating BFSU’s Disciplinary Identity and Strategic Positioning: As a key base for cultivating international organization talent, hosting this event will bolster BFSU’s academic influence in "Global Governance and Sustainable Development" and create a signature international exchange brand centered on urban investment governance.

II. Organizational Structure and Schedule

Host: School of International Organizations, Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Forum Founder and Chair: Professor Christopher WILLIAMS

Professor Christopher WILLIAMS is a full Professor at ESSCA School of Management (France) and visiting Professor at the School of International Organizations, Beijing Foreign Studies University. Professor Williams holds a PhD from the University of London, has worked in international companies for 20 years, and has over 100 publications (journal articles, cases and books). He is the founder of the “FDI and Cities Forum” series, which has been held six times. With rich academic experience in international business and innovation systems, he has long devoted himself to promoting global academic - policy exchanges and research with impact.

Chair: Professor Hui LI

Professor Hui LI is the Dean of the School of International Organizations at Beijing Foreign Studies University. She is a visiting scholar at the University of California, Davis, and Secretary-General of the BFSU Center for International Organizational Competence Development. She has long been engaged in research on global governance, international development and talent cultivation for international organizations, and has led and participated in multiple key research projects and published authoritative works in this field.

Coordinator and Co-chair: Dr Hongshu WANG

Dr Hongshu Wang is an Assistant Professor and Director of the International Economics Office at the School of International Organizations, Beijing Foreign Studies University. He holds a PhD in Management from Durham University Business School and previously served as a postdoctoral fellow at Tsinghua University. His work focuses on global economic governance, international organizations, and multinational enterprise strategies. Demonstrating a strong commitment to youth development and innovative driving forces, he has spearheaded impactful research and field projects with multiple international organizations, including UNICEF, UN-ESCAP, and the FAO, translating academic insights into sustainable global development solutions.

III. Conference Agenda

08:00–08:30 Reception

08:30-08:40 Host of the opening ceremony, Hongshu Wang (Assistant Professor, BFSU)

08:40–08:50 Opening Remarks by the Dean, Hui LI (Dean, Professor, BFSU)

08:50–09:00 Welcome by Christopher Williams (Professor, ESSCA France; Visiting Professor, BFSU)

09:00–10:30: Keynote Speeches

Stefan Rau (Principal Urban Development Specialist, Asian Development Bank)

Benjamin Rae (Senior Economist, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office China)

10:30-10:50 Group Photo

10.50-11.30 Keynote Speeches

Tom Becker (Economist, UN ESCAP)

11.30-12.00 Round Table discussion of Keynote Speakers

12:00–13:30 Lunch and Networking

13:30–15:00 Research talks

Dr Wu Ludan (Postdoctoral Fellow, Shuimu Scholar, Tsinghua University)

Dr Wang Yue (Assistant Professor, BFSU)

Dr Li Boxuan (Assistant Professor, BFSU)

15.00-15.15 Afternoon Break

15.15-16.45 Student case analysis presentations (3 groups)

Group 1: Zhao Kelan, Wang Jingwen, Shi Yilin (BFSU)

Group 2: Wu Yixuan, Liu Changtong, Liu Yihan (BFSU)

Group 3: Zhang Waer, Chen Dayi, Zou Fuxuan (BFSU)

Discussants for afternoon session:

Dr. Zhao Yuan (Associate Professor, BFSU)

Dr. Zhu Ruizhi (Assistant Professor, BFSU)

16:45–17:15 Closing Session

Summary of discussions

Professor Christopher Williams

Concluding Remarks

Ms Bao Huaying (Vice Dean, BFSU)

Keynote Speakers

Stefan Rau

Principal Urban Development Specialist

Asian Development Bank

Stefan Rau is Principal Urban Development Specialist and leads ADB’s urban and regional planning community of practice and he leads ADB’s sustainable urban development support to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). He contributes to ADB wide urban policy and publications. He supports city cluster coordination, climate mitigation and adaptation, sponge cities with nature-based solutions, circular economy zero waste cities, healthy and age-friendly cities. He contributes to strategic policy dialogue, programming and prepares and delivers relevant and innovative projects. Prior to ADB Stefan led teams on sustainable planning, urban design and large building projects in Europe, North America and Asia. He lectured at universities in Germany, United States, PRC, published papers, contributed to and organized conferences. Stefan is a passionate reflective urban practitioner and licensed urban planner and architect in Germany.

Benjamin Rae

Senior Economist

United Nations Resident Coordinator Office in China

Ben joined the Resident Coordinator Office in China in November 2022, where he coordinates the office’s South-South cooperation efforts and the UN in China’s work on advancing the 2030 Agenda and SDGs. Previously, he served as Head of Office for the Multi-Country Resident Coordinator Office in Micronesia and spent three years as the economist in the Resident Coordinator Office in Ecuador, where he worked on the economic recovery from COVID, strengthened relationships with International Financial Institutions and provided actionable economic analysis to UNCT members. He also spent six years at UN-DESA in the United Nations Statistics Division, where he was deeply involved in the design and implementation of the global indicator framework to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Swarthmore College in the United States and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy, with a focus on international development, from Duke University in the United States. He is fluent in English and Spanish.

Tom Becker

Economist

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

Tom Becker currently serves as Economist at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). His research covers trade and investment trends and the impact of FDI on sustainable development across the Asia-Pacific. Prior to joining the UN, he worked at the London headquarters of the Financial Times, specializing in international investment. He has extensive policy advisory experience worldwide, assisting countries across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Latin America in formulating investment promotion policies and special economic zone frameworks.

Research Speakers

Wu Ludan

She was formerly a Lecturer in International Business at Manchester Metropolitan University (UK). Now she is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Economics, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, and a recipient of the prestigious Shuimu Scholar Program. Her research focuses on international investment, urban sustainable development, economic governance and development economics. She has presented at international conferences, published in peer-reviewed journals, and actively engaged in academic communities as a member of international business organizations.

Wang Yue

Assistant Professor at the School of International Organizations, Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) ; Research Fellow at the Hangzhou Center for Contemporary Internationalization Studies; and Member of the UNHCR Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network (GAIN). Her research interests encompass armed conflict and humanitarian aid, as well as relations between international organizations. She has published numerous academic articles on topics such as migrant identity, China's diplomacy towards international organizations, inter-organizational cooperation, humanitarian financing, and collaboration between the UN and regional organizations. Her recent research focuses on the financial dependency of humanitarian aid and how corporate actors protect civilian infrastructure in conflict zones. In addition, she has extensive experience in collaborating and exchanging with global institutions, maintaining long-term, in-depth dialogues with prominent international organizations, including the ICRC, IFRC, IOM, UNHCR, UNDP and ILO.

Li Boxuan

Boxuan Li is an Assistant Professor at the School of International Organizations, Beijing Foreign Studies University, and holds a Ph.D. in Law from Peking University. His research focuses on decision-making in international organizations, computational social science, and European Union studies, with a particular emphasis on applying network analysis and big data methods to the study of international institutions. His work has appeared in journals including The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, World Economics and Politics, and Chinese Public Administration.

Student case analysis presentations

Group 1: Zhao Kelan, Wang Jingwen, Shi Yilin (BFSU)

Topic: FDI and Urban Sustainable Development: Wind Energy Investment in Yancheng and Ulanqab

This study examines the relationship between FDI and urban sustainable development through wind energy investment in China. By comparing Yancheng’s offshore wind power with Ulanqab’s onshore wind power, it explores how local policies, industrial platforms, and investment practices shape the local embedding of renewable energy investment and its contribution to green urban transformation.

Group 2: Wu Yixuan, Liu Changtong, Liu Yihan (BFSU)

Topic: FDI and Urban Sustainable Development: International Organizations as Market Creators or City Enablers? Evidence from IFC's Climate Finance in China

This study examines how international organizations shape the relationship between FDI and urban sustainable development in China. Using IFC's China Utility-Based Energy Efficiency Finance Program (CHUEE) as a case, it argues that the prevailing intermediary-led model systematically displaces the city as a unit of governance, subordinating urban SDG needs to commercial risk logic. The study then asks whether international organizations can shift toward a city-enabling approach, and identifies a structural gap in the existing international financial architecture that limits urban agency in the FDI-SDG nexus.

Group 3: Zhang Waer, Chen Dayi, Zou Fuxuan (BFSU)

Topic: FDI and Urban Sustainable Development: Institutionalising Urban SDGs and the Quality of FDI: Evidence from Chinese Cities

This study investigates whether and how the institutionalisation of SDGs in urban governance affects the quality of FDI received by Chinese cities. Rather than treating FDI quality as investment volume alone, it conceptualises quality in terms of SDG-related sectors, sustainability contributions, and the ESG profile of investing firms. The study proposes that cities with stronger SDG institutionalisation are more likely to attract innovation-oriented and ESG-sensitive investors, while cities with weaker sustainability requirements may appeal to compliance-cost-sensitive FDI. Methodologically, it combines city-year panel regression with network analysis to examine both aggregate patterns and city–firm investment relationships.

Concluding Remarks

Bao Huaying

Associate Dean of the School of International Organizations, Beijing Foreign Studies University. She was a visiting scholar at the George Washington University (USA), the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva, Switzerland), and the International Labour Organization (ILO). She received the Outstanding Individual Contribution Award for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. With rich experience in international exchanges, her research interests include international organizations and global governance, Sino-U.S. relations, comparative education, and international talent mobility.

Discussants:

Zhao Yuan

Zhao Yuan is an Associate Professor at the School of International Organizations, Beijing Foreign Studies University. She received joint doctoral training from Peking University and Harvard University, and has served as a consultant for the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the ITER Organization. Her research focuses on international organization staff assessment and global talent policy. She has published monographs and multiple articles in CSSCI journals, some of which have been reprinted by Chinese Social Sciences Digest. She has also led projects funded by the National Social Science Fund of China and the Ministry of Education, and has extensive experience in international organization talent assessment and selection.

Zhu Ruizhi

Dr Ruizhi Zhu received her Ph.D. in Development Economics from Peking University, her M.A. in International Comparative Education from Stanford University, and her B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Peking University. She currently engaged as an Assistant Professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University (2021-present). Prior to this position, she served as a consultant for UNESCO (2022-2023), focusing on health education and well-being projects in East Asia; as an Associate Protection Officer at UNHCR in Rwanda (2019-2021), where she worked on education in emergencies and community protection; and as a consultant and analyst at UNDP and UN Women, contributing to sustainable development, responsible investment, and gender equality initiatives. Her research Interests involve education for sustainable development, Education Economics, and so on.

Closing and Outcomes

Following a networking lunch designed to foster deep interaction among guests, the conference will conclude with a summary session. Expected outcomes include the release of policy initiatives and the announcement of future collaborative research plans.