Following on from the success of our inaugural conference in 2017, Young China Watchers (YCW) and King’s College London’s Lau China Institute held our second annual global conference in London on Saturday 13 October 2018. Over a full-day of panels and robust discussion, leading China experts and emerging young thinkers analyzed issues around the theme: “Past, Present and Future: A long view of (r)evolution in China.” Adding a historical perspective to the contemporary situation in China, attendees considered what insights the past and present can provide about where the country is heading.
Speakers from China, the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Singapore and New Zealand joined nearly 180 attendees from the academic, government, think tank and business communities. The aims for the conference were two-fold: to bring the latest thinking on Chinese politics, society and history to the next generation of China watchers in London; and to provide a forum to connect those China watchers with each other and with experts in the relevant fields.
A summary report of the conference is available to download as a PDF below:
YCW-Lau 2018 Conference Summary
Video coverage of the entire conference, including panels, questions from the audience and interviews with attendees, can be viewed on YCW’s Facebook page here (part one, with Panels 1-2) and here (part two, with Panel 3).
Photos from the conference are below:
Jim O’Neill delivers the keynote speech
Michael Yip and Raffaello Pantucci, both of YCW London, during an interview
Astrid Nortin (third from left) speaks during Panel 1. (Seated left to right: Julia Chen, Hans Van de Ven, Kent Deng)
Tania Branigan (far left) speaks during Panel 2. (Seated left to right: James Tunningley, Nigel Inkster, Yu Jie, Jinny Yan)
Joyce Xie (far left) speaks during Panel 3. (Seated left to right: Bin (William) Xu, George Yip, Syrus Lohrasb, Ting Zhang)
Bin (William) Xu, Syrus Lohrasb and Ting Zhang converse following Panel 3
Melanie W. filming an interview between Michael Yip (left) and LSE student Cody (right) during the conference.
The YCW London chapter team and volunteers
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Kerry Brown, Konstantinos Tsimonis, Tasnim Anwar, and King’s College London for their support in organizing and hosting the conference. We also thank Sam Bekemans and Melanie W. for their audio-visual support, and Alice Slevison, Colin Colas, Alexandra Ruo-Fan Wang, Alessandro Burrone, and Clement Ngu for their operational support.
All photographs were taken by members of the YCW London team.
