Tsinghua University held the first World Peace Forum on July 7-8, 2012. The Forum was the first high-level non-governmental forum on international security in China and focused on creating a platform for international strategy and think-tank leaders to discuss international security issues and search for constructive solutions. Former State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan chaired the event co-organized by the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs.

Then-Vice President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping and seven other former national leaders attended the 2012 forum. These seven national leaders were: Alan Garcia (former President of Peru), Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (former Prime Minister of Malaysia), Shaukat Aziz (former Prime Minister of Pakistan), Dominique de Villepin (former Prime Minister of France), Yukio Hatoyama (former Prime Minister of Japan), Igor Ivanov (former Secretary of the Russian Security Council), and Javier Solana (former EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy).

The first World Peace Forum consisted of three major conferences, two roundtable discussions, an evening banquet, and eighteen small group panels. The small group panels were led by various nations' ambassadors to China. In total, 22 think tank leaders, 36 ambassadors to China, and 150 think-tank experts and entrepreneurs attended the forum. Other than domestic media, 42 media outlets from 21 different countries reported on the event.