Global China Dialogue

The 7th Global China Dialogue (GCD VII), with the theme ‘Reforming Global Governance’, will be held on 10th December 2021. This is the planned culmination of a series that began in 2014 with the aim of bringing together scholars and practitioners from China and the rest of the world to exchange their insights into the
problems that challenge human existence on our planet today. Our aim is to yield proposals for the reform of global governance based on these insights.
We consider global governance in the broadest sense to cover the worldwide ordering of society to enable the peoples of the world to meet existential challenges, and to give the chance for human beings everywhere to lead fulfilling lives. China’s ‘community of a shared future for mankind’ also provided the world with a similar vision. Our panels of discussants from China and other countries will be invited to examine four areas of strategic significance for realizing these or, indeed, any visions for the governance of human society at this time of crisis.

Click HERE to download brochure.  

“多重视野看新时代中国发展道路”主题研讨会于2020年1月14日在剑桥大学成功地举行。研讨会从外国学者和海外华人的视角出发，围绕《之江新语》等著作，深度解读新时代中国发展道路以及面临的机遇与挑战。来自中国、英国、法国等国家的专家学者、英国华人华侨代表、媒体代表近50人出席了此次活动。

本次活动由常青图书（英国）有限公司和华语教学出版社伦敦分社主办，环球世纪出版社和剑桥华人社区中心协办。

常青图书（英国）有限公司总经理谢晓宬先生、华语教学出版社伦敦分社总经理柴文静女士率先致欢迎辞，他们对各位嘉宾的到来表示欢迎，并结合各自的经历分享了对于新时代中国发展道路的理解，同时希望借助此次研讨会，使更多的读者加深对中国的了解与理解。

环球世纪出版社社长英格丽∙克兰菲尔德女士、剑桥中国中心主任李金朝女士也分别发表致辞。

三位主讲嘉宾分享了他们对专著的阅读体会和对中国问题研究心得。多年从事中国经济、外交政策研究的法国桥智库总裁周瑞博士认为这些著作提供了生动的新时代中国改革理论体系的编年史。

英国皇家艺术院院士，全球中国学术院院长常向群教授基于《之江新语》中英文版著作的语料库，以“语料库社科法”深入剖析了中国在省域层面对国家治理体系和治理能力的理论探索与实践创新。

玛丽女王大学孔子学院耿直博士从语言交流与构建人类命运共同体之间的关系的角度阐释了新时代中国道路的具体实践。

与会者与主讲嘉宾们在问答环节也进行了积极的互动 。

研讨会期间，“全球百佳华文书店联展—英国剑桥站”活动同步举行，期间展出了中国政治、经济、文化、教育、社会科学等方面的图书，受到广泛关注。

大家表示以后愿意继续参与这样的活动。

媒体报道

• China.org Symposium on China’s development path in the new era held
• China News Net 中华新闻网 “多重视野看新时代中国发展道路”主题研讨会在剑桥大学举行
• 华人头条 “多重视野看新时代中国发展道路”主题研讨会在剑桥大学举行
• 我在英伦深呼吸 多重视野看新时代中国发展道路”主题研讨会在剑桥大学举行

点击这里进入英文网页

点击这里进入英汉双语网页

A symposium entitled ‘China’s Development Path in the New Era from Multiple Perspectives’ was held successfully at the University of Cambridge on January 14th, 2020. It aimed to offer an understanding of the dynamics, opportunities and challenges that are happening in China from different perspectives, focusing on a collection of works, such as Zhejiang, China: A New Vision for Development. Nearly 50 scholars and experts from China, France and the United Kingdom, representatives of overseas Chinese and media representatives attended the symposium.

The symposium was organised by Cypress Book Company (UK) Limited and Sinolingua London Limited, co-organised by the Global Century Press and the Cambridge Chinese Community Centre.

Mr. Xiaocheng Xie, Managing Director of Cypress Book Company (UK) Limited and Ms. Wenjing Chai, Managing Director of Sinolingua London Limited made welcome speeches at the opening, sharing their thoughts on China’s development path from their own experience and expressing the hope that the symposium would enable a deeper understanding of China.

Ms. Ingrid Cranfield, President of Global Century Press and Ms. Jinzhao Li, Founder of Cambridge China Centre, also spoke briefly.
 

Three keynote speakers shared their thoughts and researches on China issues. Dr. Joël Ruet, President of The Bridge Tank and an expert on China’s economy and foreign policy, spoke about the comprehensively deepening reform in China. He thought that the collection of work had provided a vivid intellectual chronicle of China’s reforming theoretical system in the new era.

Based on corpora of Zhejiang, China: A New Vision for Development’s Chinese and English editions, Prof. Xiangqun Chang FRSA, President of Global China Academy, analysed the theoretical and practical application of governance system and China’s capacity for governance at the provincial level.

Dr. Geng Zhi, lecturer at the Confucius Institute at the Queen Mary University of London, spoke about the great contribution of language and cultural exchange to the establishment of a community with a shared future for mankind, and how China’s development path is practised in the new era.

During the Q & A session, the participants actively interacted with the speakers.

The ‘China book around the world’ exhibition was on show in Cambridge during the symposium, displaying titles relating to China’s economy, politics, culture, education and social sciences. The exhibition gained great attention. Everyone expressed their willingness to continue participating in such events in the future.

Everyone expressed their willingness to continue participating in such events in the future.

Media reports

• China.org Symposium on China’s development path in the new era held
• China News Net 中华新闻网 “多重视野看新时代中国发展道路”主题研讨会在剑桥大学举行
• 华人头条 “多重视野看新时代中国发展道路”主题研讨会在剑桥大学举行
• 我在英伦深呼吸 多重视野看新时代中国发展道路”主题研讨会在剑桥大学举行

Click HERE to Chinese page

Click HERE to English-Chinese page

Along with China’s increasing influence on the world, it is important to understand how the Chinese government’s policies are reshaping and governing the global community, in addition to understanding Chinese social culture. In this regard, Chinese for Social Science might provide an useful aid for help. ‘Chinese for social sciences’ is in fact ‘Chinese language for Social Sciences’, a branch of ‘Chinese for Specific Purposes’ (CSP), like ‘Chinese for science and technology’ or ‘business Chinese’. In responding to demands from users of our bilingual websites Global China Academy is developing a supplementary course material based on our articles from the Journal of China in Comparative Perspective, material of Global China Dialogue and publications by Global Century Press in both English and Chinese. It aims at serving the purposes of providing better understanding on basic knowledge on China and improving students’ and scholars’ language skills in English or Chinese on social science issues.

Our current work is focused on the following areas:

I. Reading: Intermediate and advanced levels of reading material are derived from articles which will be published in Journal of China in Comparative Perspective.

Chinese for social science – Advanced level reading
Chinese for social science – Advanced level reading
II. English and Chinese bidirectional translation: the English and Chinese bidirectional translation work is for maintain and update our bilingual websites and blogs.

III. Chinese multimedia resources: we will add useful tools from time to time to this section.

IV. Creative English translations of Chinese vocabularies

We are committed to publish the best results of empirical studies of problem-oriented research, theoretical and methodological studies bilingually, in order to engage in-depth communication between Chinese and non-Chinese scholars. Global Century Press (GCP) is the first publisher focusing on bilingual publications of China, the Chinese and non-Chinese perspectives of China in a global context. It publishes the book series Globalization of Chinese Social Science. We are anticipated to introduce Chinese social scientists’ work globally in the framework of the globalization of knowledge, and through consultancy and public engagement to participate in shaping the global society. Global China Dialogue Series (GCDS) annual forum sometimes organices the Post-Dialogue workshop – Chinese for social science, in conjunction with it.

Organizers:

• Global China Academy, UK
• The Lau China Institute, King’s College London, UK
• The China Media Centre, University of Westminster, UK
• Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China (RDCY), China.

Date: Saturday 2 December

Venue: S0.13, Strand Campus, King’s College London, Ground floor, next the entrance of Strand Campus, London WC2R 2LS

9:30:00-10:00 Registration

10:00-11:15

Chair: Dr Dongning Feng, Senior Lecturer, Former Director of Centre for Translation Studies, SOAS, University of London, UK

• Introduction to Chinese for social science (CSS), Professor Xiangqun Chang, President of Global China Academy, UK; Honorary Professor of UCL, UK
• Chinese for social science – Intermediate level reading, Ms Lik Suen, SOAS China Institute, University of London, UK
• Chinese for social science issues: Categories, Forms of presentation, Resources and suggestions, Dr Lianyi Song, Principal Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Languages and Cultures, SOAS, University of London, UK

Discussion, Q&A

11:15-11:40 Coffee/tea break

11:40-12:40

• Difficulties in English and Chinese bidirectional translations: based on the 4th Global China Dialogue brochure, Costanza Pernigotti, Assistant Translator and Editor Global China Institute
• Reconstructing the socio-political: translating political discourse , Dr Dongning Feng, Senior Lecturer, Former Director of Centre for Translation Studies, SOAS, University of London, UK

Discussion, Q&A

12:40-12:50 Closing remarks

12:50-14:30 Lunch and network

Contact:

Ms XIONG Yi info@gci-uk.org

This is a free event, click HERE to register

Also see https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/chinese-for-social-science-post-dialogue-workshop–tickets-39809522353 

Related info

•  The 4th Global China Dialogue webpage： https://globalchinaacademy.org/global-china-dialogue-4/
• Journal of Chinese for Social Science website：https://globalcenturypress.com/journal-chinese-for-social-science
• Journal of Chinese for Social Science website in Chinese：
• https://globalcenturypress.com/journal-chinese-for-social-science-cn

Photos：

Workshop

Speakers (From left to right in order of appearance)

Q & A and discussion 

Network

Conference organizers, speakers and some participants

• Click here to view Chinese page
• Click here to visit the GCA news & Blog section. 

With the enhancement of interdisciplinary awareness, linguistic methods, such as corpus based discourse studies, have been applied to sociology, ethnography, cultural studies, psychology, cognitive science and computer science, etc. In the past decade Chinese social scientists are seeking for new methods in analyzing large quantity of texts in addition to quantitative and qualitative analysis. For example, the Contemporary China Social Life Data and Research Centre (CCSLC), Fudan University of China has collected unique set of data on contemporary Chinese social life since 1949, consists of more than 300,000 personal correspondences, over 1,000 books of personal notes, diaries, huge information of the history of personal life, as well as large amount of interview notes, and monographs. The Brill Company has signed a contract with Fudan University Publishing House for publication of 30 volumes of them. This precious material is inevitably adopted as a default resource for the research which language matters. it will undoubtedly be very helpful for understanding the construction of contemporary China’s social order and deep structure of ordinary people’s relationships. Inspirited by the ESRC Centre of Corpus Approaches to Social Science (CASS) at Lancaster University, CCPN Global engages the CASS, Centre for Applied Linguistics (CAL) of UCL, the Contemporary China Social Life Data and Research Centre (CCSLC) of Fudan University and the RCDC (the Research Centre for Discourse and Communication, Zhejiang University of Media and Communication), together developing the programme of the CACSS. This workshop will introduce related work and engage further discussions with people who are interested in this initiative.　    　

Date: Saturday, 9:00-16:30 3rd December 2016

Venue: S-2.23, the Strand Building, King’s College London.

Theme: Corpus Approach to Chinese Social Science (CACSS) workshop

Organizers:

• CCPN Global (China in Comparative Perspective Network Global, Charity No.: 1154640; an affiliate member of the Academy of Social Sciences)
• Lau China Institute, Kings College London.

Co-organizers:

• ESRC Centre of Corpus Approaches to Social Science (CASS) at Lancaster University, UK
• Contemporary China Social Life Data and Research Center (CCSLC) of Fudan University, China
• Research Centre for Discourse and Communication (RCDC), Zhejiang University of Media and Communication, China

Chairs:

• Professor Kerry Brown, Director of Lau China Institute, King’s College London
• Professor Yufang Qian, Director of Research Centre for Discourse and Communications, Zhejiang University of Media and Communications, China

Keynote speakers:

• Professor Tony McEnery, Director of ESRC Centre for CASS, Lancaster University; ESRC Research Director, UK
• Professor Yueguo Gu, Director, China Multilingual & Multimodal Corpora & Big Data Research Centre, CASS and BFSU, China

 Other speakers (in alphabetical order):

• Dr Qing Cao, Senior Lecturer in Chinese, Director of Studies in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, Durham University, UK
• Professor Xiangqun Chang, Director of CCPN Global; Honorary Professor of UCL, UK
• Professor Jiaojiang Luo, Dean of Institute of Social Development, Wuhan University, China; General Secretory of CCPN Global
• Professor Yufang Qian, Director of Research Centre for Discourse and Communications, Zhejiang University of Media and Communications, China
• Dr. Mike Scott, Aston University; Founder of the Lexical Analysis Software, UK
• Professor Letian Zhang, Director of the Centre for CCSLC and Centre for Social and Cultural Anthropology, Fudan University, China; and Co-Director of the CCPN Global

Notes:

• This workshop is an extension of the Panel 4 Corpus-based discourse studies on climate change, and in conjunction with the 3rd Global China Dialogue: Sustainability and Global Governance for Climate Change (GCD III)
• It is also an open academic event, for both participants of the GCD III and others who are interested in this topic. 
• This is a free event, but registration is requested. Click HERE for registration 
• The presentations and discussions will be published as proceedings in Corpus Approaches to Chinese Social Sciences series

Website: see updated info at http://www.dialogue.global-china.org/post-dialogue-workshop-chinese-social-science-gcd-highlight

Related info

1. Global China Dialogue Website (English-Chinese) http://www.dialogue.global-china.org 

2. Global China Dialogue III Webpage

• English-Chinese http://www.dialogue.global-china.org/3rd-global-china-dialogue-sustainability-global-governance-climate-change
• English http://www.dialogue.global-china.org/3rd-global-china-dialogue-sustainability-global-governance-climate-change-en
• Chinese http://www.dialogue.global-china.org/3rd-global-china-dialogue-sustainability-global-governance-climate-change-cn

3. Post-Global China Dialogue IV event Webpage

• English-Chinese http://www.dialogue.global-china.org/post-gcd3-workshop-corpus-approaches-chinese-social-science
• English http://www.dialogue.global-china.org/post-gcd3-workshop-corpus-approaches-chinese-social-science-en
• Chinese http://www.dialogue.global-china.org/post-gcd3-workshop-corpus-approaches-chinese-social-science-cn

Contact: events@ccpn-global.org

Click HERE to the Chinese page

As 2015 is the year of China-UK cultural exchange, many cultural activities are being planned and implemented. The symposium on ‘China-UK Cultural Exchange: Strategic Cooperation and Practical Implementation’ held in Shanghai on December 7, 2014, is one such event. It also served as the preparatory meeting for the establishment of the ‘Global China Dialogue’ series of forums. This event invited people from various fields to discuss relevant topics.

Date: Sunday, December 6, 2014
Time: 2:30–5:30 pm
Address: Conference Room of the Grand Skylight Hotel, 100 Baise Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai

Organizers

• CCPN Global (UK)
• The Young Entrepreneur Society (YES Global)

Co-organizers

• Research Center for Socio-cultural Anthropology, Fudan University
• Research Center for Discourse and Communications, Zhejiang University of Media and Communications

Hosting organizer: Shanghai Juechen Cultural Communications Co., Ltd. (SENSO: plans and organizes Chinese-foreign cultural exchange activities, provides services for cultural promotion and cultural exchange outreach)

Sponsor: Shanghai Quan Feng Investment Co., Ltd.

Organizer: Ms ZHAO Meng (SENSO)

Chair: Professor ZHANG Letian (Fudan University)

Speaker: Professor Xiangqun Chang (CCPN Global; SOAS)

Topics

• Can China’s model of “Culture builds the stage; commerce performs the show” be successfully promoted abroad?
• What is the relationship between “culture building the stage” and “commerce performing the show”?
• Why do some perspectives view “Culture builds the stage; commerce performs in the show” not as true cultural exchange but as a display of economics hijacking culture?
• What is the significance of the experience and lessons of China’s recent modernization for the modernization processes of countries all over the world?
• How does the Chinese experience aid in the study of Europe?
• How should strategic cooperation for China-British cultural exchange be planned?
• Examples of practical implementation of China-British cultural exchange

Schedule

14:30—14:45 Registration, networking
14:45—14:50 Chair delivers address and introduces special guests
14:50—15:10 Speaker gives introduction to China-British cultural exchange and Chinese academic globalization
15:10—17:00 Conference participants have 3 minutes each to share their perspectives on different topics
17:00—17:20 Q & A
17:20—17:30 Wrap-up

Professor ZHANG Letian (above left) chaired the preparatory meeting in Shanghai. He is Former Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Development and Public Policy and Director of the Center for Social and Cultural Anthropology at Fudan University. He is also Co-Director of CCPN Global. Professor Zhang began by introducing his own three broad areas of work: research on the people’s commune system, introduction of social work courses and establishment of a social life data and research center. He thinks that these can all be useful for comparative research. Afterwards, 

Professor Xiangqun Chang (above right), CCPN Director and Research Associate of the SOAS China Institute (SCI) at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK, spoke on the main theme of the meeting. She explained the difference between Chinese comparative studies and China studies, why it is necessary to place China studies within a global framework, and how to incorporate research on Chinese society into universal knowledge about humankind. She discussed how scholarly work can be accompanied by a transformation of interdisciplinary knowledge into knowledge that crosses professional and field-related boundaries, to not only serve the academic community, but also participate in shaping a global society.

Over 20 academics, experts, professionals and practitioners from Shanghai and Hangzhou participated in this meeting. Speaker-participants were divided into the following 3 groups.

Mr SHI Qiangsheng (first from left), senior economist, Deputy Director of the China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD), Association of Shanghai Population Resources and Environment Committee, also the Shanghai preparatory meeting’s main facilitator, summarized in his speech the five major characteristics of China-British cultural exchange and their significance. He emphasized the utility of Chinese comparative studies as a tool to give prominence to Chinese elements in the dissemination of scholarly knowledge outside of the academy.

Dr QIAN Zhenhua (second from left) is Board Chairman of Shanghai Quan Feng Investment Co., Ltd., main sponsor of the Shanghai preparatory meeting. He spoke about how his experience in business culture allowed him to witness the selfishness and disregard for rules and regulations that people display while conducting business or other activities. He initially viewed these methods as a legacy of the Cultural Revolution, but later discovered that they were present during the Republican Era, the Qing Dynasty, and the Warring States Period. This leads to a big question for reflection on Chinese culture and civilization: precisely what are its ‘cultural genes’? Although he diligently attended the lectures of many preeminent scholars while studying at Peking University, he never came across a satisfactory answer to this question.

Mr DING Zhengwei (second from right) is an art critic who believes that the process of cultural exchange is not a struggle for the right to speak, nor is it about influencing or changing others. Rather, it is a gentle and gradual process of osmosis. By asking the way and seeking the rites of the wild, one reaches a state of goodness as pure as water, the realm of unity between man and nature.

Mr CAO Yuanyong (first from right), Deputy Chief Editor, Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, raised the point that stories must be used to explain concepts, just as Mo Yan’s works typically narrate stories from people at the low levels of society to show how they reflect on problems. There is also the question of how to speak of culture in terms of civilization. While engaging in exchange with other civilizations, we must find adequate ways to speak about such concepts as the holistic notion of a unified ‘tianxia’ (heaven and world) or the Confucian ‘golden mean’.

Professor GUO Yi (first from left), Director of the Organization and Strategy Research Center at the School of Business of East China University of Science and Technology and Vice-President of the Professional Committee China Social Network Association, also raised a question about the exportation of Chinese concepts. If in the process of teaching and supervising research we come across notions like yin-yang or guanxi, how can we build an integrated approach to research from the mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, to analyze Chinese concepts?

Professor QIAN Yufang (second from left), Director of the Research Center for Discourse and Communications at Zhejiang University of Media and Communications and Executive Manager of the Chinese Discourse Analysis Research Association, is an expert on corpus. She proposed construction of a social science data bank and critical analysis of discourse as means to aid in the export of Chinese corpus and the construction of Chinese discourse.

Professor WANG Gancheng (second from right) is Director of the Laozi Academy at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He studied Western philosophy for seven years at university, then shifted to research Chinese traditional culture, from there excavating the thought of Laozi. He believes the essence of Laozi lies in these few phrases: “It (the Dao) produces (all things) and does not claim them as its own; it does all, and yet does not boast of it; it presides over all, and yet does not control them.” This, he believes, has a one-to-one correspondence with Abraham Lincoln’s “of the people, for the people, by the people.” He later founded the Laozi Academy to provide entrepreneurs with training in traditional culture.

Ms Xiaojing Sun (first from right) is President of the Russel & Ivy Development Association, CEO of Russel & Ivy Corporate Brand Management Co., Ltd. She explained how during her time studying at Bristol University in England she participated in the work of CCPN Global. When she returned to China to set up her association and business, she also actively involved herself in public charity work, developing programs to assist impoverished children attend school.

Professor LU Feiyun (first from left) is Deputy Director of the College of Humanities Department of Economic Sociology, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. She participated in the Project on Social Support funded by the British Economic and Social Research Council in the 1990s when Xiangqun Chang also worked there. She believes that in order to explain China to the world, one must conduct a decomposition of culture, dividing it into the culture of daily life, the cultural consciousness described by Fei Xiaotong, creative cultural industry, the spoken language of Chinese culture, and so on. Fei Xiaotong’s concept of “appreciating the cultural values of others to make the world become a harmonious whole” is helpful for thinking about cultural exchange.

Professor ZHU Lianqing (second from left), Director and Research Fellow of the Business Research Center of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS), recently returned from the UK. He explained that when we look toward the outside, we must look at things in depth, such as how the British engage in business operations with a calm demeanor and rational conduct. In the end, everyone has a role to play, and the society is stable there. We must inquire into these background forces here: the spirit and genes of people.

Professor YIN Xiaorong (center), Deputy Director of the Information and Communication Research Center of the School of Journalism at Fudan University, who translated the history of dissemination studies and examines dissemination issues from the perspective of global social change. It will be very difficult for Chinese news media to ‘go abroad’, despite the state’s investment. There is also the Internet, new media, ‘citizen journalism’, etc. It is very important to research how to use different media outlets, such as ethnic minority media outlets.

Mr WANG Yelong (second from right), Associate Professor of Editorship of Peking University Press and General Manager of Shanghai Shengda Yanyuan Cultural Promotion Company, noted that cultural exchange is a bi-directional process; however, our situation in reality is one of inequality. Many students go abroad to study; we introduce many copyrights from outside but export few. 2015 is the 100th anniversary of the New Culture Movement. He is currently putting together a book on China-British cultural exchange, and hopes it will be able to travel abroad.

Dr LI Zhangang (first from right), Associate Research Fellow of the Center for Studies of Sociological Theory and Method at Renmin University of China and Vice Secretary-General of the Zheng Hangsheng Social Development Foundation, spoke on two topics. First, he explained how the Zheng Hangsheng Social Development Foundation provides young scholars with support and construction of a ‘base of compassion’. Second, he introduced Professor Zheng Hangsheng’s method and theory for researching Chinese experience, which, just as one must consider the two dimensions of time and locality in a long wave process, emphasizes the sequence of ideas from tradition to modernity to fully understand globalization.

Before the meeting, the leaflets of CCPN Global and Global Century Press were given to the participants.  This gentleman (second from left in the photo on the upper left) was reading the material. He works at a company for marketing planning. He represents Professor ZHAO Ronghui, Dr YU Hua, and Dr SHEN Qi of the Language Research Institute at Shanghai University for International Studies. Due to time conflicts, they were unable to attend the meeting. In the upper right photo are CCPN Global’s two directors (front row from left to right) and Dr Jane Zhang (middle of back row). She is CCPN Global’s chief representative in China, CEO and Senior Consultant of IBC-Joint Group (Research-Consulting-Exchange). After the meeting, participants engaged in lively conversation. The bottom photo shows Xiangqun Chang with Ms ZHAO Meng (left) of SENSO Corporation Limited, the organizer of the Shanghai preparatory meeting.

Above are the Shanghai preparatory meeting’s main organizers and coordinators.

The Chinese page was compiled and edited by Julia Yu based on photos and recordings provided by Juechen Culture Communications Co., Ltd.

English page is translated by Cheryl M Schmitz

Click here for Chinese page.

Professor Xiangqun Chang, Director of CCPN Global, received a Mulan Award for her Contribution to Education by the Mulan Foundation Network on the 29^th October 2014. The first annual Mulan Awards Dinner was held at the Drapers Hall to honour and recognise the achievement Chinese women.  According to Mulan Foundation, it ‘aims to recognise and honour the achievements of Chinese women in the UK and elsewhere through Annual Awards and in the process build up a global network of top and successful Chinese women and young Chinese women on the way up, for networking, mentoring and to support and help each other as well as contribute to the wider community’.

I. Mulan Award Ceremony

Welcome and reception:

The guests were welcomed by Mei Sim Lai OBE DL, Chairman of Mulan Foundation Network; Dr Mee Ling Ng, OBE, the chair of the Awards’ judging panel; and Lady Katy Tse Blair MBE (from left to right at the top right picture).  At the bottom left picture Mr Neil Clarke, CCPN Global volunteer, with Ms Xinran Xue, author of 7 books published in over 37 languages. She also worked at BBC World Service as a journalist, translated several important literary works into Chinese (including Pinter’s entire theatrical bibliography) and founded a charity – The Mothers’ Bridge of Love.  At the bottom right shows Dr Thomas Clarke, Senior Teaching Fellow of Imperial College London, Trustee of CCPN Global, with Polly Yu, a Solicitor from Bloomsbury Law.

Dinner banquet: 

Nearly 200 guests attended the Mulan Awards Dinner 2014 for honouring the achievements of Chinese women at the Drapers Hall. Attendees also included Ms Qingling Guo, an International Trade Adviser UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in the bottom left picture); and Ms Elaine Pooke (bottom right), English Heritage’s Production Manager, who has over 25 years’ experience in the Printing and Publishing Industry, and helped in the design of CCPN Global’s new leaflet. She is also Managing Ambassador for the Mayor of London.  

Awards presentation: 

Dr Mee Ling OBE, Chair of judges of panel of the Mulan Awards announced that Dr Xiangqun Chang, Director of CCPN Global is the Winner for her contribution to education (top left), Professor Danny Quah of the London School of Economics and Political Science, presented the award to Professor Chang (top right and bottom left).  Coincidentally, Professor Quah was Chairman of the Management Committee of CCPN (China in Comparative Perspective Network) at LSE before CCPN Global was registered as an academic charity in 2013. The picture at bottom right is Xiangqun with Mei Sim Lai OBE DL, Chairman of Mulan Foundation Network.

Family, friends, and colleagues: 

Dr Xiangqun Chang with Mr William Franklin, Business Development Consultant, Sophis Approach Limited and Ms Ingrid Cranfield, formerly Councillor for Lower Edmonton ward, and Deputy Mayor of Enfield Council (Top left picture); Xiangqun with her supportive family on top right picture; from bottom right: Dr Chang and family with Prof. Quah and his wife.

II. A list of winners:

1.   Young Achiever of the Year

Winner:  Ms Yaoqian Shang, Birmingham Royal Ballet. Graduate of The Royal Ballet and winner of the Ninette de Valois award 2013.

2.  Contribution to Education

Winner:  Professor Xiangqun Chang, Director of CCPN Global, a UK-based academic society focusing on the study of China and the Chinese from a comparative perspective.  Research Associate, SOAS, University of London. Holder of several professorial and senior fellowships at Renmin, Peking, Fudan and Sun Yat-Sen Universities in China.

3. Contribution to Arts and Culture

Winner:  Ms Betty Yao MBE.  Director of Credential International Arts Management, UKIP and Projects Director at Asia House, London.

Winner:   Ms Di Xiao.   International pianist at Birmingham Conservatoire. Winner of first prize Brant International Piano Competition 2007.

4.    Contribution to Science and Technology

Winner:   Dr Sharon Heng.  Specialty Registrar, Addenbrookes Eye Unit, Cambridge University Hospital. Research into age related macular regeneration (AMD) and founder of CHEF (Chan Heng Eye Foundation), a charity providing rehabilitation support for the visually impaired members of the Chinese community in London.

5.   Contribution to Business and Enterprise

Winner:   Ms Carol Hui.  General Counsel for Heathrow Airport Holdings (formally BAA). Director of Heathrow Airport Limited. Previous roles include GC for Amey and Deputy GC for BG Group. Winner of the European General Counsel of the Year 2008.

Commendation:   Ms Teresa Li. Owner of The Jobwall, an online job board for job seekers and employers. Winner of an enterprise award from the Scottish Asian Women’s Association.

6.  Contribution to Charitable Causes and Philanthropy

Winner:  Ms Viola Wong.  Managing Director of Confiserie Benji Limited. Founder and benefactor of Benji’s Centre. The charity provides professional speech therapy to over 680 children with disabilities and from disadvantaged background.

7.   Contribution to Public Service and Community

Winner:   Ms Catherine Zeng.  Head of Financial Services, Trade and Investment, HM Treasury.  Previous roles include: Senior Policy Adviser, Financial Regulation and Markets, HM Treasury.

Commendation:   Ms Min Rose.  Promoting and connecting up UK-China business, enterprise and academic partnerships with the University of Nottingham and the wider Chinese community.

8.   Outstanding Contribution at the International level

Winner:  Ms Jiang Bing, Deputy Director of GBCC (Great Britain China Centre). Contribution to major UK-China collaborations in the field of the development of China’s legal and judicial system, by working with the Supreme People’s Court, the Chinese Ministry of Justice and legal scholars in academic institutions.

Commendation： Ms Huilin Proctor, Head of China Desk, DLA Piper UK LLP.  The development of Chinese Corporate Law and an arts and culture ambassador in facilitating exchange of cultural excellence between UK and China.

Click HERE to its Chinese page 全球中国比较研究会常向群会长荣获2014年“木兰奖”

China, the West and the Future of Global Capitalism – or Not?

From a recent press release of SOAS, ‘the future of the global economic system depends on the West’s relations with China. A hundred years ago Max Weber, famous as a founder of modern Western social and political science, wrote a classic study of cultural factors that hindered the rise of Western style capitalism in non-Western contexts.’ On 5-6 September, a conference entitled ‘Max Weber and China: Culture, Law and Capitalism’, was successfully held at SOAS, University of London. Nearly a hundred social scientists from China and around the world re-examined Weber’s thesis and asked how far his pioneering social scientific methods can illuminate the very different conditions of economic growth today.  After the conference we received praise from some conference participants:

• ‘A great triumph!’
• ‘a significant conference!’
• ‘a fantastic conference!’
• ‘an intellectually productive conference!’

We hope you will enjoy the photo news below which will highlight some features of the conference and show some initial reflections. Your material and opinions are welcome and will be used to update this page from time to time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two photos above show the conference plenary venues (G2: top) and (V211: bottom), SOAS.

Keynote speeches

The left photo is Professor Martin Albrow who is holding a new edition of the Max Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, translated and introduced by Stephen Kalberg (right), when introducing Professor Kalberg as Keynote speaker from Boston University, USA. Kalberg argues for the continued relevance of Weber’s systemic approach to the comparative analysis of civilizations. He made a critical reappraisal of Weberian theory and its contemporary relevance, which can be seen from his book Max Weber’s Comparative-Historical Sociology (2012). Many interesting questions were raised by the audience.

Plenary sessions

Streams

Q &A sessions

Closing session

As a Chinese saying puts it, there is no feast under heaven (tianxia) that can last forever (天下没有不散的筵席), which means, of course, that all good things must come to an end. Conferences are indeed intellectual feasts. We hope, after you return home, the visible or invisible images, imaginative thinking or memories of the Weber and China conference and its spirit will stay with you…

Click HERE to download the Photo Report

The international conference entitled ‘How do Migrants from the BRICS Countries Participate in Shaping the Global Society?’ was successfully held on the 2nd March 2013 at CLM.2.02 of LSE.

Professor Athar Hussain, Director of Asian Research Centre, LSE, opened the conference. Lord Michael Bates gave an interesting opening address. A China based expert on ‘migrant studies’ Professor Minghuan Li, and an UK based expert on ‘migration studies’, Dr Nicholas Van Hear, made keynote speeches respectively. Eight team members of the project on the BRICS migrant studies presented their papers around two themes: ‘Case studies on the BRICS migrants and migration in the global society’, and ‘The relationship migrated citizens have with their countries of origin in a global society’. Dr Xiangqun Chang gave a very brief overview by clarifying the research topic and interests, disseminating basic data from both fieldwork and online questionnaire survey. The audience actively participated in the ‘question and answer’ panels. The closing panel was formed by three professors. Professor Ronald Skeldon gave a clossing presentation, Professor Karamjit Gill made some general comments and finally Professor Stephan Feuchtwang made closing remarks.

Background

China in Comparative Perspective Network (CCPN) at LSE is engaged in an international collaborative research project known as ‘Comparative Studies on the New Migrants from BRIC counties in America, Australia, Japan and the UK’ (2009-2013). The project is collaborative with the School of Sociology, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan. It is funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and involves researchers from Australia, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, UK, and USA. Our research focuses on ‘new migrants’ who have migrated from BRIC countries to the UK, the USA, Australia and Japan since 1989.

In responding to the changes from BRIC to BRICS, the large and fast-growing economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which significantly influence regional and global affairs, we have added migrants from South Affric in the UK in the comparative studies. Both the BRICS countries themselves and the migrants they send out are of great importance in shaping the future of global society.

Our research can be used to identify ways of fostering the economic and social well-being of BRICS migrants in the four countries under study, and enhance their economic and social contributions to their host countries. We are also interested in ways in which migrants residing abroad can assist in the development of their home countries.

Apart from standard social scientific methods this project uses online questionnaire survey (it will be held until the 31st January 2013). You are welcome to participate in the survey and the data can be shared at your request. 

Instead of performing ‘migration studies’ this project expands the field into ‘migrant studies’. It focuses on ‘ordinary migrant people’ in contrast to simply paying attention to a special group of people as an example of human rights issues in migration studies. We believe ‘ordinary people’ are the basis of any society.

Organisers and convenors

Organisers:

Convenors:

• Professor Lixing Chen, School of Sociology, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan; President of Japan-Sino Sociological Association
• Dr Xiangqun Chang, Co-Director of China in Comparative Perspective Network (CCPN), LSE

Programme

Morning session 9:00-13:00

Chair: Professor Athar Hussain, Director of Asia Research Centre, LSE

Opening session 9:00-10:15

• BRICS migrants in the UK, By Lord Michael Bates, Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairman of the House of Lords
• The Chinese in Europe: Migration history and their participation in shaping European society, by Professor Minghuan Li, Department of Sociology, Xiamen University, China; Consultant of Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of State Council, PRC
• The changing global migration order: two decades of turbulence, by Dr Nicholas Van Hear, Senior Researcher and Deputy Director of the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford, UK

Case studies on the BRICS migrants and migration in the global society

10:15-10:45 Is Japan’s Labour Structure in Transition? Lessons from the Brazilian Labour in the Mie Prefecture, by Professor KUMARA Ananda, Vice-President of Suzuka International University, Japan [ppt ; paper summary]

10:45-11:15 Skilled Russian Migration: Impact on Development through Empowerment, by Dr Esuna Dugarova, Research Analyst, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Switzerland [ppt]
11:15-11:30 break

11:30-12:00 From vulnerability to flexibility: Indian middleman traders in Shaoxing, China, by Mr Ka-kin Cheuk, PhD candidate, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, UK [ppt]

12:00-12:30 Chinese lawyers in Brazil, Australia and the UK – a three way comparison, by Ms Helen Tung, Barrister, 1 Temple Avenue Chambers, London, UK [ppt]

12:30-13:00 South Africa as the BRICS Gateway to Africa and its Implications for Migration Patterns, by Ms Ana Faria-Santana, by CCPN Research Associate, LSE; former Research Director, Centre for Chinese Studies, University of Stellenbosch – South Africa [ppt]

13:00-14:00 Lunch (will be provided at CLM 7.02)

Afternoon session: 13:00-17:00

The relationship migrated citizens have with their countries of origin in a global society

Chair: Dr Kent Deng, Director of CCPN and Reader in Economic History, LSE

2:00-:2:30 Comparative studies on what influence the migration from BRICS channelling back to their home countries, by Professor CHEN Lixing, PI of the BRIC migrant project, School of Sociology, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan; President of Japan-China Sociological Society (JCSS), Japan

2:30-3:00 Homeland Calling, Family Pulling: New Migrants from BRICS Countries in the UK, USA, Australia and Japan, by Dr SHAO Chunfen, Lecturer of Department of Japanese Studies, the University of Sydney, Australia

3:00-3:15 break

3:15-3:45 Allegiance Problems to Settled and Home Countries: Dynamics and Effects, by Professor KOMAI Hiroshi Professor Emeritus, the University of Tsukuba, Japan

3:45-4:15 How do Migrants from the BRICS Countries Participate in Shaping the Global Society? An overview by Dr Xiangqun Chang, Co-PI of the BRIC migrant project, Co-Director of China in Comparative Perspective Network (CCPN), LSE, UK [ppt]
4:15-5:30 Closing session

• Professor Ronald Skeldon, Department of Geography, School of Global Studies, University of Sussex [ppt]
• Professor Karamjit Gill, Human Centred Systems, University of Brighton; Editor of AI & SOCIETY: Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Communication
• Professor Stephan Feuchtwang, Department of Anthropology, founding Director of China in Comparative Perspective Network (CCPN) and MSc Programme, LSE 

Related info

Click HERE to download programme

Click HERE to download abstracts

LSE weblisting:

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2013/03/20130302t0900vCLM202.aspx 

ZJUKA: http://www.zjuka.org.uk/page13.html 

If you have any question please write to: ccpn@lse.ac.uk

Notes:

1. This event was organised when CCPN was at LSE. Please contact CCPN Global with its new email address: info@ccpn-global.com.

2. We will update the ppt or paper summaries soon.

3. The conference collection will be buplished by the end of 2013 (this page will be updated accordingly) 

Photos

Some attendees at the conference

Click HERE to Chinese page