On 17 September 2026, the President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Séamus Boland, and his delegation visited the Shanghai Institute for European Studies (SIES). They held discussions and exchanges with Chinese experts on topics such as China-EU relations, European integration, the global governance of artificial intelligence, the rise of the far-right in Europe, and the reformation of social cohesion. On behalf of the SIES, President Ding Chun extended a warm welcome to the delegation. Participants included Anna Repullo Grau, the Member of the EESC's President's Cabinet, Hugh Reilly, Senior Communications Consultant and Spokesperson, Julio Arias, First Secretary of the EU Embassy in China, as well as Men Jing, the director of the Center for European Studies at East China Normal University, Wu Hui-ping, the deputy director of the German Studies Center at Tongji University, Xue Sheng, an associate researcher at Shanghai International Studies University, Liao Jia, the deputy director of the Center for Central and Eastern European Studies, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Long Jing, the deputy director of the Center for European Studies of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, Yang Haifeng, the Secretary-General of SIES along with Zhu Yichen, the director of the Consultation Department, among others. (For conference details, please refer to the summary.)
