The World Ethics Institute in Beijing (WEIB), established on October 29, 2012, is a postgraduate center for research, teaching, learning, publishing, and public service. It is the first research institution in China focusing on global ethics, and in particular global economic ethics.

WEIB originated from the close collaboration between Peking University and the University of Tübingen in Germany. Karl Schlecht, Chairman of the Board of the KSG (Karl Schlecht Gemeinnützige Stiftung) Foundation, and Liang Wengen, Chairman of the Sany Heavy Industry, generously provided the initial funding. The institute is under the direction of the world-renowned scholar Tu Weiming.

WEIB aims to remain rooted in traditional Chinese culture while learning from the ethical wisdom of various Axial and non-Axial civilizations and indigenous cultures. Through means such as civilizational dialogue, WEIB aims to build a creative research team that combines teaching and learning, domestic and international resources. Finally, the institute aspires to bring the ancient spiritual wisdom of Chinese civilization, as well as contemporary Chinese culture, to the research of global ethics, so as to make the latter more diversified and globally significant.

The WEIB Advisory and Academic Committees, which decide on the institute’s research directions and develop new discourses, consist of the world’s leading scholars in economic ethics, including Craig Calhoun, Gholamreza Aavani, Richard Cooper, Hans Küng, Thomas Scanlon, Michael Spence, Lin Yifu, Fan Heping, Wan Junren, Xu Fei, Yang Huilin, and Zhang Weiying. The research conducted at WEIB is primarily project-based. Led by Professor Yao Xinzhong, Huang Yong, etc., the projects span from economic, political, judicial, media, and ecological ethics to Confucian ethics, reflections on the Enlightenment, and inter-religious dialogue.

WEIB also hosts various educational and service programs, including the Professor in Residence Program (partnered with the University of Tübingen), the Student Exchange Program, the World Ethics Lectures at PKU, the World Ethics Forum, and programs of study that focus on  media, government, and business.