During her opening speech ELDR Party President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck pointed out that all powerful actors on the world's stage need to play their part to overcome challenges such as nuclear proliferation, the reform of international financial markets or climate change. Solutions can only be found together but not against each other. "With political and economic size comes responsibility", she noted and this applies more than ever also to China. The interdependency of the world's economies also makes China vulnerable to systemic failures and would lead to major asset losses of the country.

President Neyts-Uyttebroeck also underlined the importance of "competition as a discovery procedure" (Friedrich August von Hayek) as a means to find the best possible solutions for the political and economic development of societies. "Only free citizens will be able to unleash their creative power to develop a society's full potential", the President of the Liberals emphasised.

During the second day of the conference, together with more than 100 representatives from different European political parties and the Chinese Communist Party, European Liberals presently discuss issues related to post-crisis reform of the international economic and financial system, climate change, and the importance of political (multi)-party cooperation in China-European relations.