June 11, 2008. The Council on Foreign Relations in New York held a symposium on "Religion and the Future of China". Researchers, university professors, leading U.S., Australian and British researchers-Orientalists, as well as representatives of international foundations and non-governmental organizations expressed their a vision of what place religion occupies in modern China, particularly in the social system of Chinese society. Speakers described the main trends of state power China's interaction with the five major religious traditions of the country (Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam), and also criticized the prevailing stereotypes about the relationship between state and religion.
The symposium was held on the following themes: "The dynamics of China's religious landscape", "Religion and State", "Religion, civil society and economic life".
The event was attended by the Secretary of the Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA Archpriest Alexander Abramov and his assistant YA McGregor.