Book launch: "China in Five Cities" by Kerry Brown - in conversation with Astrid Nordin

As part of the Lau China Institute's inaugural China Week, we were delighted to host the exclusive launch of Professor Brown's latest book, "China in Five Cities" - from Hohhot to Hong Kong. This was a hybrid event, held in-person & streamed online. On this page you can find the link to the event recording, along with photos from the day.

About the book

Kerry Brown is a Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London. He has worked on China for more than three decades, beginning his career as a British diplomat in Beijing before becoming one of the world’s foremost and prolific sinologists.

Kerry first travelled to China in 1994. Since then, the Middle Kingdom has transformed from ‘backwater’ to ‘emergent superpower’, eliciting fanfare, global scrutiny and a tidal wave of think-pieces attempting to analyse this mighty yet opaque power. 'China in Five Cities' offers a light alternative to the bluster, drawing on wit, allusion and anecdotes of adventure to render the People’s Republic ‘knowable’ to Western readers, and in so doing, humanise its monumental ascent.

Kerry shared the latest from his new book, and discussed the rapid transformation of China over the past thirty years with Professor Astrid Nordin, the Lau Chair of Chinese International Relations

Following the discussion, we hosted an exclusive book signing session with the author. 

About the speakers

Professor Kerry Brown is a Professor of Chinese Studies and the Director of the Lau China Institute at King's College London. He is an Associate of the Asia Pacific Programme at Chatham House. He was formerly a Professor of Chinese Politics and Director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, Australia. Prior to academia, Kerry was a career diplomat, working for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office as the First Secretary at the British Embassy in Beijing and then as the Head of Indonesia, Philippine and East Timor Section. He is also a graduate of the University of Cambridge. Kerry's main research areas include post-1949 Chinese history, Chinese international relations (particularly UK-China and EU-China relations), Chinese political economy, as well as Taiwanese and Hong Kong history and politics.

Professor Astrid Nordin is the Lau Chair of Chinese International Relations at the Lau China Institute of King's College London. She is also a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Social Futures (Lancaster University) and an Associate Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. Prior to King's, she was a Professor of World Politics and the Founding Director of Lancaster University China Centre. Astrid has significant experience in journalism as well as in developing institutional partnerships with Chinese institutions, setting up and leading academic organisations, and collaborating on interdisciplinary projects. Some of her research areas include critical approaches to war and security, Chinese international relations and cultural governance, and theories of politics and international relations.