Bates Gill Keynote Speaker

Globally-renowned, career-long expert on China and Asia-Pacific, U.S.-China relations, and the tumultuous geopolitics of China's ascent on the world stage
Leader of major policy research institutions, including a global top-ten think tank, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Author of nine books, including Daring to Struggle: China's Global Ambitions under Xi Jinping (2022) and more than 200 other publications

Bates Gill's Biography

Dr. Bates Gill has a 30-year international career as a think tank leader, policy advisor, consultant, author, media commentator, and public speaker.

An internationally-respected specialist on China and Indo-Pacific affairs, he has led a global top-ten think tank, directed research centers at world-leading universities and public policy research institutions in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and consulted for governments, businesses, and philanthropies.

Dynamic, authoritative, and plain-spoken, Bates is in high demand for his insights, having made more than 700 appearances in international print, broadcast and digital media, including in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Le Monde, Financial Times, NPR, BBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, and many more.

At ease and articulate in front of audiences large and small, he has briefed world leaders, C-suites, investor conferences, professional associations, and training seminars, and delivered TED-style talks and engaging after-dinner remarks.

His personable and incisive observations of life in China, based on decades of living, working and traveling in the country, have appeared on NPR and make for entertaining vignettes and conversation starters for audiences looking for an insider’s take on what is happening in China.

Bates draws his insights from extensive travels and networks around the world, built from his global work experience spanning from Washington, D.C. to Europe, to China and across Asia to Australia. Truly a global citizen, he has traveled to 60 countries for his research and speaking engagements, while living and working for three years in China and Taiwan, 12 years in Europe (France, Sweden, Switzerland), 12 years in Australia, as well as in the United States.

He is a Senior Fellow and consultant for the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, Senior Fellow for Asian Security with the National Bureau of Asian Research, and Senior Associate Fellow with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, London). He also serves on the Board of Governors of the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (Singapore), is a member of the International Council of Advisors for the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies, and sits on the Board of Advisors of the National Bureau of Asian Research (Seattle and Washington, D.C.)

In previous roles he served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Center for China Analysis at the Asia Society Policy Institute, Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an Associate Fellow with the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House, London), the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Washington, D.C.), and as founding director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution (Washington, D.C.).

Bates is the author or editor of nine books on China- and Asia-related topics, including, most recently, Daring to Struggle: China’s Global Ambitions under Xi Jinping.

Among his international honors, Dr. Gill holds the Royal Order of the Commander of the Polar Star (post-nominal: KNO), the highest chivalric order bestowed upon foreigners by the Swedish monarch, for his contributions to Swedish interests.

What's Ahead for China?: Top Trends to Watch

Economic headwinds. High-level purges. Social disgruntlement. Geopolitical tangles. Extreme weather events. Recent years have been tough on China. Looking ahead, will things improve? Drawing from decades of closely following China, Bates forecasts the most important developments to watch across the economy, domestic politics, society, the environment and foreign relations and their implications for China and the world.

China's Global Ambitions under Xi Jinping

Increasingly powerful, prosperous and authoritarian, China under the leadership of Xi Jinping has become a more intense competitor across the globe -- economically, technologically, diplomatically, militarily, and in seeking to influence people's hearts and minds. But what does China ultimately want in the world? In this timely and illuminating talk, internationally renowned China scholar Bates Gill explains the fundamental motivations driving the country's more dynamic, assertive and risk-taking approach under Xi Jinping, and the challenges they pose to China and world.

The Enduring Paradox of U.S.-China Relations

Across many metrics and despite the ongoing narrative of "decoupling", the U.S.-China relationship remains highly interdependent and shares many common interests. Yet, at the same time, the relationship continues to devolve into ambivalence, antipathy, and antagonism. What explains this paradox? In a tour de force ranging across the past, present and future of U.S.-China relations, Bates explains the fundamental drivers in this great power rivalry and the constraints that may yet rein it in at the brink.

Only in China: Incisive Insights in a Country Transformed

Bates has lived, worked, and traveled across China for nearly 40 years and has the stories to prove it! Personal, poignant and perceptive observations of his life in China lift not only the spirit but also the veil, revealing a dynamic but restless society. A witty and entertaining take to kickstart a deeper understanding of China's future.

He brings unmatched authority on China and Indo-Pacific affairs from three decades advising governments, leading top-tier think tanks and shaping policy debate across the United States, Europe and Asia.
He translates China’s strategic ambitions, security priorities and global behavior into clear insight for leaders assessing geopolitical risk, competition and long-term positioning.
He draws on rare lived experience in China and across Asia to offer an insider’s perspective that goes beyond headlines and captures how power is exercised in practice.
He equips executives, investors and policymakers with context-rich analysis that connects regional dynamics to global security, economic stability and strategic decision-making.
He delivers incisive, accessible briefings grounded in rigorous research and real-world engagement, helping audiences understand not only what China is doing, but why it matters.