The 10th Global China Dialogue Successfully Held at the British Academy

Yao Gou

The 10th Global China Dialogue (GCD X) is scheduled to take place on 5^th December 2025 at the British Academy in London, UK. Marking the 10th anniversary of the Dialogue, the forum returns to the UK after the 9th session was successfully held in Tongji University (Shanghai, China), reaffirming its role as a platform for sustained global dialogue on China and international governance in education.

As a cornerstone for achieving social justice, fostering global prosperity, and responding to future transformations, education increasingly relies on cross-border collaboration, multi-stakeholder engagement, and technological empowerment. In the context of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data reshaping educational models and learning ecosystems, global education governance is facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities.

This Dialogue will provide an inclusive platform for policymakers, scholars, educators, business leaders, and international organizations to engage in meaningful exchange on new visions, mechanisms, and pathways for global education governance. A key dimension throughout the discussions will be the comparative analysis of national education systems and governance cultures, aimed at promoting cross-cultural understanding and mutual learning, and enriching both the theoretical foundation and practical knowledge of global education governance.

GCD X includes the following four panels:

• Panel 1: Governance Innovation and Technological Empowerment
• Panel 2: Educational Equity, Inclusion, and Quality Assurance
• Panel 3: Global Education Policy and International Cooperation
• Panel 4: Education Financing and Sustainable Development

Friday, 08:30-17:00, 5 December 2025 at Tongji University  

Opening session

Greetings

Chair: Professor Tony McEnery, FAcSS FRSA FGCA and Chair of Global China Academy Fellow; Council Member of Academy of Social Sciences; Distinguished Professor of English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University.

Speakers (from left to right):

• Minister Wang Qi, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United Kingdom
• Dr Alexis Brown, Head of Global Education Insights at the British Council, UK
• Professor Martin Jacques, FGCA, British scholar, journalist, political commentator and author; and Visiting Professor or Senior Research Fellow at several leading universities around the world
• Professor Kerry Brown, FGCA, Director of the Lau China Institute, King’s College London, UK

Keynotes speeches

How Should Education Respond to the Challenge of Generative AI? Professor Rupert Wegerif (above), Professor of Education, Faculty of Education, Governing Body Fellow of Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, UK

Think Globally, Understand Locally, Act Internationally – Exploration for Future Education, Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of Xi’an Jiaotong–Liverpool University, China; Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool, UK

Group photo at the end of the Opening Session and then followed by GCA Fellowship Award Ceremony 2025

After the opening session of the 10th Global China Dialogue (GCD X), new GCA fellowships were awarded.  Since 2021, the Global China Academy successfully completed its institutional transformation, establishing an academy system with Fellows at its core and publishing and dialogue as its two principal platforms. This transformation has provided a solid institutional foundation and affirmed the Academy’s leadership in research on China from global and comparative perspectives. Through a formal Fellow selection mechanism, together with English and Chinese dual language publications and a series of global dialogue forums, the Global China Academy has established an open, high-level platform dedicated to fulfilling its dual mission: advancing human knowledge as its academic mission and contributing to global governance as its social mission. Click here to see the full list of recipients.

Panel I: Governance Innovation and Technological Empowerment

Chair and discussant: Professor Madeline Carr FGCA, Secretary of GCA Board of Trustees; Professor of Global Politics and Cybersecurity at University College London, UK

Plenary speakers (from left to right):

• Developing Critical AI Literacies in Language Education, Dr Niall Curry FRSA FGCA SFHEA, Reader in Languages and Linguistics and UKRI Metascience AI Fellow, School of English, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
• Artificial Intelligence for EFL Education: Pedagogical Benefits, Challenges, and Future Directions, Frances Yiying Zhang, Lecturer in Chinese Studies and Departmental Academic Convenor at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
• Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Legal Education, Dr SHEN Weiwei, Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Law at China University of Political Science and Law, China; currently a Visiting Scholar at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, UK
• Blessing-Centred Education: The Humanistic Supplement of Technological Empowerment in Collaborative Governance, Dr Tracy Liu, PhD graduate, King’s College, University of Cambridge, UK
• Transforming Screen Time into Philosophy Time: Empowering Families through Inquiry-Based Learning, Yukun Shi, Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance with Data Analytics, Director of postgraduate research at Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, UK; President of the Chinese Economy Association (Europe)

Panel II: Educational Equity, Inclusion, and Quality Assurance

Chair and discussant: Professor Maria Jaschok, FGCA, Chair of GCA Board of Trustees; Senior Research Associate of the Contemporary China Studies Programme, University of Oxford

Plenary speakers (from left to right):

• Process or Product? Rethinking Language Learning and Assessment in the Age of AI, Professor Vaclav Brezina, Co-Director of ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science, School of Social Sciences, Lancaster University
• Beyond Inclusion: The Equity Blueprint and the Transformation of Educational Systems, Lucy Robin, ABC Parents Child Health Champions Lead, Every Parent & Child, London; creator of The Equity Blueprint, a governance framework
• Can Education Bring a Better Life? – Lessons from Minority Girls’ Schooling on the China Myanmar Border, Professor TENG Xing, Professor at the School of Education, Minzu University of China; founder and inaugural Chair of the Education Anthropology Committee of the China Ethnology and Anthropology Association
• From Global Standards to Local Voices: Ensuring Equity and Integrity in Assessment in an AI-driven World, Dr Paraskevi (Voula) Kanistra, Associate Director/Senior Researcher at Trinity College London, UK

Panel III: Global Education Policy and International Cooperation

Chair and discussant: Professor Peter Schroeder, FGCA and Vice-President of Global China Academy, Professor of the History of Political Thought, Department of History, University College London

Plenary speakers (from left to right)

• Global Englishes and Education Policy: Rethinking International Cooperation in Higher Education, Professor Nicola Galloway, School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
• Teaching Between Systems: What Transcultural Classroom Experience Can Contribute to Global Education Policy, Richard Anthony Ridealgh, PhD candidate in Education at the University of Manchester, UK; Curriculum Director and Senior Head Teacher at Barbara’s Academy, Shenyang, China
• A Comparative Study of Japanese and Chinese Language Promotion Policies in UK Higher Education, Yi Yang, Chinese lecturer at Regent’s University London and a PhD student at Durham University, UK
• Reimagining Internationalization, Professor Steven Jones, Professor of Higher Education, Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK

A Q&A session was hosted by the chair and plenary speakers

Panel IV: Panel IV Education Financing and Sustainable Development

Chair and discussant: Mr. Charles Grant, Trustee of the Global China Academy Broad of Trustees and Director of the Centre for European Reform

Plenary speakers (from left to right)

• An Educational Response to the Climate and Nature Emergency, Professor Justin Dillon, Professor of Science and Environmental Education, IOE, University College London, UK
• The Chinese research landscape: trends in UK–China collaboration, Dr Alexis Brown, Head of Global Education Insights at the British Council, UK
• Beyond Funding: How Digital Ecosystems Shape the Sustainability of UK–China Educational Exchange, Professor Martin Lockett, Department of International Business and Management, former Dean of Faculty of Business at University of Nottingham Ningbo China
• AI and Liberal Arts Education: The BNBU Paradigm in China and its Global Outreach, Professor CHEN Zhi, FHKAH, President of Beijing Normal–Hong Kong Baptist University (BNBU), China (video)

A Q&A session was hosted by the chair and plenary speakers

Closing session

Chair: Professor Xiangqun Chang (  Right)  FRSA FGCA and President of Global China Academy, Honorary Professor of University College London (2015–20), Distinguished Professor of Nankai University

 Closing remarks:

• Tribute to a Bridge of Knowledge: Reflections on the 10th Global China Dialogue, Professor Martin Albrow (Top Left) , FAcSS FRSA FGCA, Founding and Past Honorary President of GCA (2013– 2021); Emeritus Professor of University Cardiff; Former President of the British Sociological Association (BSA)
• Bridging Worlds: Governance, Culture, and Collaboration in Global Education, Dr Yukteshwar Kumar (Middle) , Senior Academic of the Chinese Stream at the University of Bath and a distinguished scholar of China-UK-India; Former Deputy Mayor of Bath, UK
• Global Education in Dialogue: Reflections and Ways Forward, Professor Li Li (Bottom) FGCA, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (designate), Newcastle University; Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement, University of Exeter; Founder and Director of Exeter–Tsinghua Joint Institute for Global Humanities, UK

The event concluded with the announcement that the 11th Global China Dialogue (GCD11) will focus on Global AI and Data Governance, continuing the Academy’s commitment to advancing dialogue on the most urgent governance challenges facing an interconnected world. 

The Global China Academy (GCA) extends its sincere gratitude to the volunteer team and all participants for their invaluable contributions to the success of the 10th Global China Dialogue.  A group photograph was taken to mark the 10th anniversary of the Global China Dialogue, celebrating a decade of sustained dialogue and collaboration.

Throughout the day, participants engaged in lively conversations during registration, tea breaks, and lunch, creating valuable opportunities for informal exchange and networking across disciplines and regions. (Below)

Dinner: Celebrating the Newly Awarded GCA Fellowships and the Conclusion of the 10th Global China Dialogue at Peacock London, County Hall, Westminster, London（see a separate webpage）.

• Click here to visit the GCD10 Website.
• Click here to view A celebratory dinner marked the conclusion of GCD10
• Click here to visit New Fellowships awarded in 2025
• Click here to visit GCA Fellowship section. 
• Click here to learn more about the 9th Global China Dialogue was successfully held in Shanghai.
• Click here to visit the 9th GCD webpage. 

• Click here to visit the GCD9 Website.
• Click here to visit New Fellowships awarded in 2024