Events / Info / Tsinghua-PAA Impact Summit

Tsinghua-PAA Impact Summit

15 – 17 October 2026 Tsinghua University, School of Economics and Management, Jianhua Building China

    Collaboration for Good: Leadership, Innovation, Scale

     

    The inaugural Tsinghua-PAA Impact Summit gathers senior leaders from China and beyond, across philanthropy, business and government, in Beijing this October. Co-hosted by Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management and Philanthropy Asia Alliance, the Summit offers an inside look at how China is responding to shared global challenges with innovation and scale, and serves as a platform for mutual learning and dialogue between Asia and the world.

     

    Participation is by invitation only. For enquiries, please contact pas@philanthropyasiaalliance.org. 

     

    Chinese Website

    Agenda

    09:30 - 17:00
    09:30 - 10:00 Jianhua Building
    Opening Ceremony

    • Edmund Koh Chairman, Philanthropy Asia Alliance
    10:00 - 10:45 Jianhua Building
    Keynote & Panel | Optimising Human Capital Potential ​

    How are climate transition and artificial intelligence reshaping livelihoods across Asia? And how can philanthropy work with public and private actors to shape the future of work? This panel examine how organisations, ecosystems, and institutions can work together to build a more human-centered approach to workforce transformation – to protect and improve socioeconomic opportunity.​

    • Dr Yang Bin Vice Chancellor of Tsinghua University Council, Professor of School of Economics and Management, and Dean of the Institute for Sustainable Social Value, Tsinghua University
    • Dr Xiao Liming Vice President, Tencent Sustainable Social Value; Secretary-General, Tencent Charity Foundation
    • Amakobe Sande United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Representative to China
    • Ilaria Chan Founding Chairwoman, Tech For Good Institute; Advisory Council Member, Stanford Center at Peking University
    10:45- 11:00 Jianhua Building
    Break

    11:00- 11:45 Jianhua Building
    Keynote & Panel | Advancing One Health at Scale​

    China sits at the intersection of dense urbanisation and large-scale agriculture, making it vulnerable to One Health challenges such a zoonotic spillovers and AMR. At the same time, it is emerging as a driver of global healthcare innovation across the value chain. This panel will discuss how China is innovating in frontier One Health areas and how philanthropic funding can support translation of breakthroughs into systems change.​

    • Professor Wong Tien Yin Vice Provost, Tsinghua University, Senior Vice-Chancellor, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Fellow, the Royal Society, UK, Member (International), National Academy of Medicine, USA
    • Zheng Zhi-Jie Director, China Country Office, Gates Foundation
    11:45- 12:30 Jianhua Building
    Keynote & Panel | Powering the Energy Transition​

    China is playing a defining role in the global climate transition, not only as a source of technological innovation but as one of the world’s most powerful engines for deploying renewables at scale. This panel will explore the conditions for speed and scale in renewable energy and electrification frontiers in China, as well as how momentum towards a green and just transition may be accelerated.​

    • Dr Sun Xiansheng Chairman, International Society for Energy Transition Studies
    • Dr Liu Qiang Global Director, Climate and Chief China Representative, Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
    12:30 - 12:45 Jianhua Building
    Reflections | Scaling Solutions for a Better World​

    This fireside chat convenes trusted global voices and veteran leaders with experience across China and the rest of the world to recap the innovations that have shaped global development and consider the lessons we can bring into the future. 

    Speakers will offer personal reflections on what it takes to build meaningful cross-border partnerships and navigate differing perspectives on impact. The morning then closes by identifying opportunities for collective action and how collaboration can shape sustainable development on a global scale.

    • Ray Dalio Founder, Bridgewater Associates and Chairman, Dalio Family Office
    • Prof Bai Chong-En Dean, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University
    12:45 - 14:15 Jianhua Building
    Lunch Break

    14:15 - 16:00 Jianhua Building
    Breakout Session 1 | Innovating for Better Health

    Human, animal, and environmental health sit along a single continuum, yet the pressure points where they converge are often examined in isolation. This roundtable brings together voices from global health and philanthropy to identify where those pressures build and how they might be alleviated. Designed for delegates interested in exploring how philanthropy can work more closely with private and public sectors to shift from reactive disease control towards preventative One Health practice.

    • Dr Lu Manchun Chief Operating Officer, Global Health Drug Discovery Institute
    14:15 - 16:00 Jianhua Building
    Breakout Session 2 | Innovating for Inclusive Development

    This session complements the morning plenary on the future of work to map the womb to workforce arc and pinpoint where education and education-adjacent investments earlier may reap the greatest long-term dividends. Facilitated table exercises ideate the acupuncture points where philanthropy can absorb risk, fund prevention, and connect silos through upstream interventions. 

    • Zhang Fan Assistant to the Secretary-General, Tencent Charity Foundation
    • Wu Wei Secretary-General, Tanoto Foundation
    14:15 - 16:00 Jianhua Building
    Breakout Session 3 | Innovating for Sustainable Climate Solutions

    Climate innovation and lived impact do not always advance together, and the space between them is where philanthropy's role becomes most visible. This interactive workshop maps the broader human and ecological systems shaped by the energy transition, to surface where philanthropy must act to ensure that a greener future is also a more equitable one.

    • Alasdair Charnock Principal Partnership Officer, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
    • Dr Yang Hongliang Manager, Investment Solutions, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
    14:15 - 16:00 Jianhua Building
    Breakout Session 4 | Tech for Impact

    Technologies are only as transformative as the ecosystems that incubate and invest in them. Beginning with a panel featuring speakers with deep experience in developing impact startups and social innovators, the session then spotlights emerging and established AI and tech solutions in climate, health, and inclusive development – offering the chance for investors across the capital spectrum to interact with some of the most promising solutions and companies in the Chinese ecosystem.

    • Li Haifeng Chairman, Fosun Foundation
    • Jason Knauf LVO CEO, The Earthshot Prize
    • Charina Chan Chief People Officer, Temasek Foundation
    16:00 - 18:00 Jianhua Building
    Networking Reception | An Impact Agenda for the Future

    08:00 - 18:00
    08:00 - 18:00 Various locations across Beijing
    Impact Journeys

    Building on the conversations at the Tsinghua-PAA Impact Summit, Impact Journeys take participants beyond the summit spaces and into the solutions driving change on the ground and shaping real-world outcomes. Each journey points to where support, partnership, or capital can make the greatest difference.

    AM Dandelion Middle School
    Impact Journey | Dandelion Middle School

    Founded in 2005 as China’s first non-profit school targeted at migrant children, Dandelion Middle School provides quality education for underserved communities, with a strong focus on both academic achievement and social-emotional wellbeing. Participants will learn holistic educational outcomes may be achieved in low-resource settings and how scale is being enabled country-wide by providing capacity building and institutional strengthening for other rural areas.

    AM Miyun Reservoir
    Impact Journey | Beijing Miyun Watershed Management

    Miyun Reservoir is one of the capital's most important sources of drinking water. The Nature Conservancy and its partners manage the surrounding forests and wetlands as green infrastructure, reducing erosion, sediment, and pollution while improving habitats for migratory birds and developing alternative livelihoods for communities. Participants will learn how science-based forest and wetland management not only protects water quality and strengthens long-term water security, but also produce co-benefits for planet and people.

    PM Dami & Xiaomi
    Impact Journey | RICE AI for Early Intervention

    Specialist expertise for children with autism, developmental delays, and learning difficulties tends to sit in a small number of cities. Dami & Xiaomi, a Shenzhen-based impact startup, is working to scale early intervention nation-wide - leveraging their proprietary RICE AI technology to assess and diagnose, personalise interventions, monitor progress, and support teachers and parents. Participants will see how philanthropy and private capital are combining to create impact at scale, and the role AI can play in improving learning outcomes for neurodivergent children.

    PM Global Health Drug Discovery Institute
    Impact Journey | Global Health Drug Discovery Institute

    An independent and not-for-profit drug discovery institute, GHDDI offers a compelling example of how philanthropic capital, public-sector support, scientific expertise, and international partnerships can be combined to accelerate new treatments for infectious diseases disproportionately affecting LMICs. Participants will also gain firsthand insights into how AI is being applied to shorten the time needed for translational research.

    Evening Wenyu River Park
    Impact Journey | Clean Air Salon

    This Chatham House discussion will focus on China’s efforts and achievements in improving air quality over the last 20 years. Over an intimate dinner setting, funders will engage with frontline organisations, scientists, industry, and media working at the intersections of climate and health. Where schedules allow, join us for a pre-dinner guided walk in Wenyu River Park to view how urban ecological protection is being managed in a major city like Beijing.

    08:00 - 18:00
    08:00 - 18:00 Various locations across Beijing
    Impact Journeys

    Building on the conversations at the Tsinghua-PAA Impact Summit, Impact Journeys take participants beyond the summit spaces and into the solutions driving change on the ground and shaping real-world outcomes. Each journey points to where support, partnership, or capital can make the greatest difference.

    AM Zhaikou Mine PV
    Impact Journey | Zhaikou Mine Ecological Restoration Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation Project

    Integrating solar power generation with the ecological rehabilitation and redevelopment of abandoned mining land, participants will gain an understanding how this public-private partnership employs novel restoration approaches and innovative ecological remediation strategies to achieve multiple objectives of environmental rehabilitation, sustainable land reuse, carbon reduction, and long-term green development. 

    Full Day Great Wall
    Impact Journey | Jian Kou Great Wall Conservation Project

    A digital conservation initiative using technology, data, and community engagement to support the protection and management of one of China's most well-known historical sites. Through a guided, easy-to-moderate hike through private sections of the Great Wall undergoing restoration, participants will see how digitalisation is widening access to heritage and draw lessons on balancing cultural preservation with the pressures of tourism.


    Venue Information

    How to get there:

    • A shuttle service will run between Shangri-La Beijing to Tsinghua University on 15 October. More details will be provided to registered delegates ahead of the Summit.

    • Guests can also choose to make their own way to the venue. Please note that the organisers will not be liable for any delays encountered at the entrance.

     

    By Subway (Metro)

    • Nearest Station: Wudaokou Station (Line 13)

    • From Wudaokou Station (Line 13): Take Exit A or B, then either walk about 10–15 minutes toward the university's South Gate or hop on local buses (like bus 549) to alight at Qinghuayuan.

     

      By Bus

      • Key Stop: Qinghuayuan

      • Local bus lines such as 549 stop right by the university's South Gate entrance.


      Accommodation

      Shangri-La Beijing has been arranged as the recommended hotel for Summit delegates. Located on Beijing's west third ring road, the hotel sits close to the city's financial and Zhongguancun technology districts, and around 20 minutes from Tsinghua University. It is roughly 29 kilometres from Beijing Capital International Airport and 59 kilometres from Beijing Daxing International Airport.

       

      A shuttle service will run between the hotel and Tsinghua University on 15 October, and Shangri-La Beijing will also serve as the departure point for the Impact Journeys.

       

      Delegates are encouraged to book directly with the hotel using the link below and quoting the group code.

       

      Book your stay at Shangri-La Beijing

       

      Group code: PAA141026

       

      29 Zizhuyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100089, China

       

      More about Shangri-La Beijing

       

      Please note that PAA is not managing bookings on behalf of delegates. All reservations should be made directly with the hotel.


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