ACELS 17 Returns To China in 2024 – The 5 Things You Should Know!

After four years, 17th Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit (ACELS 17) returned to China to celebrate its 9th anniversary in Shanghai!

The event began on the 5th of July 2024 at Sheraton Pudong with excitement, expectations, and the participants’s longings for a new chapter of bilateral relations between China and Australia. After such a long wait due to COVID-19 and the travel restrictions, the ACYA team and the ACELS Project Team knew expectations would be high, but with incredible delegates, amazing speakers, and brilliant workshops this one was a milestone. For the ACELS 17 2024, here are the 5 things you should know!

No.1 2024 is the 9th anniversary of ACELS

Let’s turn back the clock to 11 years ago. ACELS’s predecessors were the ACYA National Conference held in 2013 and the Bilateral Youth Leadership Workshop in 2014. The initial goal was to promote greater engagement between young Chinese and young Australians. In 2015, the event would take on its final shape, changing its name to Australia-China Emerging Leaders’ Summit and debuting to tremendous praise in Sydney. Since its inception, ACELS has hosted 838 delegates hailing from all states of Australia and 20 provinces in China. 47% of past delegates have come from the Arts and Social Sciences (including law), 34% have come from Business and Commerce backgrounds, and 19% have come from STEM fields. ACELS is proud to bring such diverse academic and professional backgrounds together to forge interdisciplinary dialogues and solutions to the pressing issues of our age.

No.2 ACELS 17 comes back to China after 4 years

The last time ACELS landed in China was in January 2020 for ACELS 10 in Guangzhou. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, ACELS 12, 13, and 14 were forced online for 2020 and 2021. While it was amazing to still hold ACELS at all in those troubled times, we all knew it wasn’t the same and were eager to get back in person. In 2022 we were able to return in style with ACELS Sydney, and while international travel restrictions prevented us from returning straight to our friends in China, ACELS 16 in Canberra ensured we could continue to sponsor engagement. Now, thanks to the unilateral visa-free travel decision by the Chinese government and the promise of stability in international travel, we were finally able to come home to our Shanghai chapter and hold ACELS in China again! And just to make up for missing China in 2023, ACYA has also committed to holding ACELS 18 in south China - so stay tuned for more information!

No.3 Key diplomatic leaders share their blessings and expectations for youth

HE Mr. Scott Dewar, Australia's Ambassador to China, delivered the keynote speech in the opening day for the ACELS 17 delegates. He emphasised the importance of Australia-China people-to-people relations and the recent improvements in dialogue and exchange between Australia and China - notably, the importance of the recent visit by Li Qiang. Mr. Dewar also shared his hopes for delegates as emerging leaders of the next generation.

Mr. Xiao, China's Ambassador to Australia, provided context for the Australia-China relationship, that last year was a year of progress and improvements, with a variety of official meetings and visits - on the Australian side, by Prime Minister Mr. Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Ms. Penny Wong, and on the Chinese side, by Premier Mr. Li Qiang and Foreign Minister Mr. Wang Yi.

For delegates of ACELS 17, Mr. Xiao also expressed his hopes and aspirations for everyone to adopt an objective view of Australia-China relations, carry out practical cooperation to jointly promote development and transformation, learn from each other and promote people-to-people exchanges, and jointly address challenges and improve international governance. Concluding his remarks, Mr. Xiao noted that the youth of the present holds the key to the future of Australia-China relations.

Mr. Gary Cowan, the CEO of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations (NFACR) 澳中基金会, emphasised the importance of supporting better-enhanced engagement between Australia and China - no matter whether it is between business, government and community - through dialogue and connections.

Mr. John Williams, Australia's Consul-General to Shanghai, highlighted that while there are various differences between Australia and China, that these issues should not define the bilateral relations. Instead, both Australia and China should seek to manage differences well; a pragmatic approach given the complementarities across trade and investment, and the longstanding cooperation between the people of Australia and China which had spanned many decades and in many industries.

No.4 Speakers from all walks of life

The challenges of our time—pandemics, geopolitical conflicts, climate change, and equality issues—have never felt so immediate, influencing nearly every decision we make. The emerging leaders of today are now facing a world with multifaceted challenges, which can neither be interpreted nor solved with a narrow-minded train of thought. Recognising the biggest questions in the Australia-China relationship across the boundaries of nationalities and identities, ACLES 17 invited guest speakers from all walks of life. The well-rounded discussions over the 3-day summit ranged from career challenges, work culture, business, green development, geopolitics and diplomacy, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Development.

No.5 Hypothetical scenarios workshop

Since 2020, the Government of the People's Republic of China has imposed anti-dumping and countervailing measures on wine and barley from Australia - which we found to be an excellent opportunity for ACELS 17 to offer the delegates something serious to get their teeth into! The workshop put the friction between the countries on the table for the delegates to discuss. Split into teams representing Australia or China, with mock situations targeting geopolitical and economic frictions such as “Australia's introduction of new FDI restrictions and tariffs against China and Chinese-made goods.” Delegates imitated the roles of the governments of China and Australia to offer their own pitches for a future trade deal. By utilising their communication skills and negotiation strategies, the delegates explored the ramifications and then dug out solutions as a team.

After half a year of hard work by everyone on ACYA's Project Team for ACELS 17, the event has finally come to fruition with panel discussions, workshops, and cultural activities. That's a wrap!

We would firstly like to thank our sponsors and event partners, for making this event possible, especially: Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, HSBC, Geneva Catering, University of Sydney China Centre, the Australia-China Young Professionals Initiative (ACYPI) 澳中青年领袖联合会, Study Melbourne, Riversdale Fine Wines, Chinese Students and Scholars Association Sydney (CSSA), Sydney Union Chinese Students Association (SUCSA), Jebsen Group, FIJI Water, and Remedy Drinks. We would especially like to acknowledge the kind support of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations (NFACR) 澳中基金会 alongside the support of Embassies and Consulates across Australia and China.

We would also like to thank our delegates for their attendance and contributions to the event; we hope that you have gained valuable insights and networks from ACELS 17. 

Finally, we would like to thank the valuable contributions of every one of our ACYA staff members who contributed to the event, and who worked so tirelessly to bring the event from a concept into reality. Most notably, we would like to acknowledge the efforts of Amy D., Gloria Gu, Joshua Ellis, Shailene Wei, Cyan Sang, Lillian Xiang, Angela Chu, Catherine Hu, Danielle Worton, Lorraine Luo, Elin Wu, and Jessica Yang - thank you so much for being with us from the beginning to the end.

Content contributors: Bob Fang, 梁睿丰 Victor