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China Week

China Week is our flagship, week-long series of events designed to help contribute to an informed understanding of China's growing global influence through research and public engagement. 

Hosted by the Lau China Institute, each year China Week brings together experts from across academia, industry and government to explore the key themes in China's modern development through interactive discussions and debates.

China Week 2023 | 16-20 October

China as an Education, Research and Development Superpower?

This year’s China Week looks at the theme of education and research, exploring the opportunities and challenges presented by China as a potential future global leader in education, research and knowledge, and what it means for how we continue to do research in, on and with China.

China Week this year invites you to engage in a deeper dialogue on China’s progress in research and development, the values that underpin this, and how they may lead to better research outcomes for both society and the planet.

Keynote speaker | Friday 20 October - 6pm

Professor Daniel A. Bell, "On the Confucian Communist Comeback in Contemporary China"

We're excited to announce our keynote speaker is Daniel A. Bell, esteemed Professor, Chair of Political Theory in the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong. He served as Dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University (Qingdao) from 2017 to 2022. His books include The Dean of Shandong (2023),  Just Hierarchy (co-authored with Wang Pei, 2020), The China Model (2015), The Spirit of Cities (co-authored with Avner de-Shalit, 2012), China’s New Confucianism (2008), Beyond Liberal Democracy (2007), and East Meets West (2000), all published by Princeton University Press.

He is also the author of Communitarianism and Its Critics (Oxford University Press, 1993). He is founding editor of the Princeton-China series (Princeton University Press), which translates and publishes original and influential academic works from China. His works have been translated in 23 languages. He has been interviewed in English, Chinese, and French. In 2018, he was awarded the Huilin Prize and was honored as a “Cultural Leader” by the World Economic Forum.

NB Daniel will be joining this in-person event virtually.

Stories

Gallery

2022 - Exploring China's digital revolution

China Week 2022 took place from 17-21 October on the theme of China's digital revolution, and explored the opportunities and challenges that China’s technological advancements present for China and the rest of the world, with the closing keynote by conceptual artist, Ai Weiwei.

Topics of discussion included:

  • China and the digital world order
  • China’s envirotech landscape
  • Big tech and the platform economy
  • Digital surveillance in China
  • Xi and the future of China’s leadership
  • Freedom of speech and surveillance

Download the programme

 

Watch the replays

 

2021 - Climate change and the environment

The inaugural China Week, hosted by the Lau China Institute, was held between 25-29 October 2021, in the lead-up to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Themed on climate change and the environment, the five-day flagship China Week series was a unique forum for discussion on China’s role in addressing the greatest global challenge of our time.

During the week, we hosted a range of in-person, hybrid and online events, including diverse perspectives from 46 speakers across academia, government and industry. With the help of 16 supporting partners, we achieved our goal of facilitating dialogue on China to inform a global audience by sharing our expertise in an accessible way.

The speakers involved in China Week represented a range of leading organisations, including the World Economic Forum, United Nations Environment Programme, Harvard Business School, Chatham House, China Dialogue, the Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change at the London School of Economics, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Australian National University, World Resources Institute, the Institute for International Political Studies and more.

Welcoming more than 1,800 guests across the week – both online and in-person – our audience included policymakers, industry leaders, NGOs, researchers and, of course, students.

Check out each individual event for recordings, photos and more details. All of the recorded events are also available on our Youtube channel.

Topics covered during the 2021 China Week included:

  • China’s 2060 carbon pledge and the economic transition to a low carbon future
  • the ‘green steel’ opportunity
  • digital environmental activism in the China
  • biodiversity and COP15
  • the health impacts of climate change
  • the Build Back Better World (B3W) vs the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI)
  • the Green Belt & Road
  • the role of youth in driving change

Download the 2021 China Week programme (2.98 MB PDF).