On June 24 2025, the launch ceremony for the Annual Report on World Cities (2025) and Symposium on ‘Globalization Fragmentation and the New Logic of Global Urban Development’ was held at SASS.
Scholars engaged in an in-depth dialogue on the opportunities and challenges facing global urban development amid the transformation of globalization, examining four key dimensions: globalization, national development paths, regionalization, and the evolving nature of global cities.
Addressing the opportunities and challenges of Globalization 4.0 for China, experts highlighted 2030 as a pivotal milestone for the global sustainable development agenda, noting that “weak globalization” and “non-globalization” are becoming increasingly prevalent. The current retrenchment of globalization is closely intertwined with external shocks, including warfare, geopolitical rivalries, and pandemics, where security concerns have outweighed transnational integration.
Experts stressed that China’s 15th Five-Year Plan must proactively respond to the enduring trajectory of Globalization 4.0. Shanghai, in particular, is called to adopt a targeted “fine-tuning” approach, focusing reforms on institutional mechanisms and external resource allocation. Its positioning amid future great power competition is crucial: by establishing itself as a “new bridge” connecting China, the US, and the wider world, and as a “reservoir” for top talent, Shanghai can secure strategic advantage in the next wave of global development.
