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China in Dialogue: Persistent and Emerging Conversations presents the proceedings of an in-person, interdisciplinary symposium that brought together twelve scholars from the United States and China for sustained intellectual exchange in Beijing. Convened by The Beijing Center (TBC) in partnership with Loyola Marymount University (LMU), the symposium reflects a shared commitment to intercultural dialogue grounded in the Jesuit tradition of education, scholarship, and engagement with the world.

Rooted in a Jesuit understanding of dialogue as a disciplined practice rather than a mere exchange of views, this volume approaches East–West engagement as an ongoing process of encounter, discernment, and mutual learning. The Jesuit intellectual tradition—marked by attentiveness to context, respect for cultural difference, and the pursuit of knowledge in service of the common good—provides the conceptual and ethical framework for the conversations represented here. Dialogue, in this sense, is not aimed at consensus or simplification, but at deeper understanding shaped by history, lived experience, and intellectual humility.

The symposium was intentionally designed as more than a conventional academic conference. By convening scholars in Beijing, the program emphasized presence and place as essential dimensions of intercultural understanding. Participants engaged one another through sustained discussion across disciplinary, cultural, and institutional boundaries, embodying a model of scholarship that privileges encounter over abstraction. This approach reflects The Beijing Center’s long-standing mission to serve as a bridge between China and the global academic community, and Loyola Marymount University’s commitment to global education informed by Jesuit values.

The essays collected in this volume span a wide range of fields, including geopolitics and energy systems, artificial intelligence and technology ethics, medicine and health humanities, philosophy, language and translation, education, and cultural history. While diverse in subject matter and methodology, the contributions are united by a shared concern with how ideas, values, and practices travel across cultures, and how historical and contemporary encounters between China and the West continue to shape global realities.

In a time of heightened geopolitical tension and cultural misunderstanding, China in Dialogue: Persistent and Emerging Conversations offers a model of academic collaboration rooted in trust, presence, and sustained dialogue. It stands as a testament to the enduring relevance of Jesuit educational ideals and to the possibilities that emerge when institutions commit themselves to learning across difference.