On the afternoon of April 23rd, 2024, Zheng Bijian, Founding Chairman of the CIIDS, met with the delegation from the Aspen Institute in Beijing, led by Joseph Nye, Co-Chair of the Aspen Strategy Group and Emeritus Dean of Harvard Kennedy School. The meeting focused on how to understand China accurately and establish a proper strategic perception of the US-China relations.

Zheng Bijian said, President Xi Jinping pointed out that “to understand China, the key lies in understanding Chinese modernization” in his congratulatory letter to the 7th Understanding China Conference. To avoid strategic misjudgments in the US-China relations, the key lies in the same theme. The CIIDS is currently centering its various "Understanding China" initiatives around “understanding Chinese modernization”. He expressed the hope that colleagues from the American strategic academic community will actively participate.

Joseph Nye thanked Zheng Bijian for the meeting and expressed his willingness to strengthen cooperation with the CIIDS, working together to improve China-US relations.

Li Junru, the Vice Executive Chairman of the Academic Committee of the CIIDS, Xu Weixin, the Chairperson of the CIIDS also participated in the meeting.