Global China Academy and Global Century Press’s Activities in May 2023

During a series of events in May, supported by the GCA Board of Trustees, the Global China Academy and Global Century Press actively promoted international academic cooperation and China related studies worldwide. These activities demonstrated the academy’s emphasis on knowledge sharing, as well as the importance of understanding China’s role in the contemporary world.

On May 5, during Dr Grace Yuan Cheng’s visit to the UK, the GCA Board of Trustees held a hybrid meeting, chaired by Ingrid Cranfield. Charles Grant participated online. The second photo from the left above shows, from left to right, Dr Thomas Clarke, Dr Frances Wood, Ingrid Cranfield, Dr Yuan Cheng and Professor Xiangqun Chang.

On May 11, Professor Xiangqun Chang presented four copies of the mainland Chinese edition of China and the Shared Human Future: Exploring Common Values and Goals to the author, Professor Martin Albow, on behalf of the China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Co. Ltd., which co-developed this publication project with GCP. She also presented four copies of the English edition of the book published by Global Century Press (shown in the photos above).

On May 23, Professor Xiangqun Chang was invited to give a presentation at the inaugural China-Focused Research Forum hosted by SOAS, University of London. This event was organised by the student societies of SOAS, LSE and King’s College London. Dr Lianyi Song, Principal Teaching Fellow in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at SOAS (third from the right in the third photo above), oversaw the proceedings. Dr Song is one of the founding editors of the Journal of Chinese for Social Science (JCSS), which GCP publishes. This forum represented a good opportunity to foster engagement among students dedicated to China studies and the learning of the Chinese language. Sam Hardy (third from the left in the thrid photo above), chaired the forum. The attendees included two Chinese sociologists among the four Chinese Visiting Fellows. They are notable for being the first Visiting Fellows from China after the COVID pandemic.

The activities in May demonstrate a commitment to deepening the understanding of China’s contributions to the world. Through efforts such as publishing important works and participating in events, GCA plays an important role in promoting social scientific work with a global perspective and efforts of cross-discipline engagement in social linguistics.