Over six months into the Trump administration, the US President has outlined an “America First” foreign policy approach, raising questions about America’s role in the world. How will this affect China-US relations? Are there any new opportunities and challenges for subnational exchanges between Shanghai and the US? 

To generate a good discussion, the SIAS hosted a seminar on “Shanghai-US Exchanges in the Year of the Trump” at Shanghai Tower on August 15, 2017. The meeting was co-organized by Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Institute of History at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS), with support from Shanghai Chronicles Library and Shanghai Joint-Win Partners. 

At the meeting, the SIAS launched its latest publication The Almanac of Shanghai-US Exchanges (2016), the first of a book series to be released annually. It is the first of its kind in China’s domestic book market that explores bilateral relations through subnational exchanges between Shanghai and the US.

More than 30 experts and scholars attended the meeting and shared their suggestions for better cooperation in the legal, economic and cultural sectors. Attendees included representatives from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government, the Office of Shanghai Chronicles, Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.