The German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) hosted the final conference of the ERA-NET CO-REACH project “The Impact of Emerging Power: China-EU cooperation and global governance” from 28-29 June 2011. Over the past 20 months, researchers from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the Institute of World Economics & Politics (IWEP) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and DIE undertook joint research from a multi-level governance perspective in two larger fields of interest: climate policies/renewable energy industries and development cooperation with African and Asian countries.

During the conference researchers of the three institutions presented the results of their research and policy recommendations. Invited experts from the University of Bonn, Leeds and Berlin as well as experts from GIZ, technopolis group and the Global Public Policy Institute commented on the papers and presentations. A general experience of the research has been that a multi-level governance approach provides an analytical approach to open the black box of ‘China’ and thereby opening pathways for comparison with the EU. Looking at internal hierarchies of rules and constellations of actors not merely highlights parallels and differences between China and the EU, but also the potential for cooperation. Lively discussions around the question of China’s competitiveness in renewable energy sources evolved during the public panel discussion on “Cooperation and Competition between China and the EU in Renewable Energies – Perspectives from Business and Politics” with Wolfgang Jussen (CEO of REpower China) and Corinne Abele (German Trade & Invest, Beijing)

As the project has been funded by the ERA-NET CO-REACH of the EU’s 6^th research framework programme – which is dedicated to encourage cooperation between European research institutions in their research on and with China – the final panel discussion of the conference with the directors of IWEP and DIE as well as Hubert Schmitz from IDS and Ingrid Krüßmann of the German Research Foundation reflected on the experiences in research cooperation within the project and lessons learned for future funding programmes and international research projects.