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China Week

China Week is our annual flagship, week-long series of events designed to help contribute to an informed understanding of China's growing global influence through research and public engagement. 

Hosted by the Lau China Institute, each year China Week brings together experts from across academia, industry and government to explore the key themes in China's modern development through interactive discussions and debates. Previous China Week themes have examined climate change and the environment, technology and AI, education and research and China's economic challenges. 

China Week 2025 | 20-24 October 

China and the New World Order

This year’s China Week looks at China’s rising influence in the world – from its economic power, innovation in technology to an expanding military presence. And, amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions, how the world’s second largest economy is reshaping, redefining and challenging a new world order. 

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Keynote speakers

Sir Vince Cable

Vince Cable is a Visiting Professor at London School of Economics and Political Science and Nottingham University and a Distinguished Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute. He was previously Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade. He served as MP for Twickenham for twenty years until retiring in 2019. His books include After the Storm(2015), Money and Power (2021) and The Chinese Conundrum (2022).

Kaiser Kuo

Kaiser Kuo is the host of the Sinica Podcast, a weekly discussion of current affairs in China that has run since 2010. He was Head of Podcasts and Editor-at-Large for The China Project, and previously served as Director of International Communications for Baidu. In his over 20 years in China, his career ran the gamut from rock music to tech journalism to corporate communications. He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and holds an M.A. from the University of Arizona.

Stories

Gallery

2024 - Whither the China Model? The economic, developmental and social challenges facing China today

With China facing significant headwinds in its domestic economy, this year's China Week explored what the future model for growth and development might look like, what challenges the country is facing today, what these mean for the rest of the world, and how these may be overcome.

We were delighted to hear from Professor Michael Pettis, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who gave the opening keynote on why it is so difficult to raise China's consumption share of GDP.

Well-known cook and writer, Fuchsia Dunlop closed this year's China Week speaking about her book 'Invitation to a Banquet' about the story of Chinese food.

Other topics included China's evolving approach to economic security, security and statecraft networks in the MENA region, China's role as a space power, the rise of Chinese feminist activism in the UK and more.

View the programme

Watch the replays

 

2023 - China as an Education, Research and Development Superpower?

China Week 2023 took place from 16-20 October and looked at the theme of education and research. Experts explored the opportunities and challenges presented by China as a potential future global leader in education, research and knowledge, and what it means for how we continue to do research in, on and with China.

Guests were invited to engage in a deeper dialogue on China’s progress in research and development, the values that underpin this, and how they may lead to better research outcomes for both society and the planet.

Professor Daniel A. Bell delivered the closing keynote with a talk on the Confucian and Communist comeback in contemporary China. 

View the programme

Watch the replays

2022 - Exploring China's digital revolution

China Week 2022 took place from 17-21 October on the theme of China's digital revolution, and explored the opportunities and challenges that China’s technological advancements present for China and the rest of the world, with the closing keynote by conceptual artist, Ai Weiwei.

Topics of discussion included:

  • China and the digital world order
  • China’s envirotech landscape
  • Big tech and the platform economy
  • Digital surveillance in China
  • Xi and the future of China’s leadership
  • Freedom of speech and surveillance

Download the programme

 

Watch the replays

 

2021 - Climate change and the environment

The inaugural China Week, hosted by the Lau China Institute, was held between 25-29 October 2021, in the lead-up to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Themed on climate change and the environment, the five-day flagship China Week series was a unique forum for discussion on China’s role in addressing the greatest global challenge of our time.

During the week, we hosted a range of in-person, hybrid and online events, including diverse perspectives from 46 speakers across academia, government and industry. With the help of 16 supporting partners, we achieved our goal of facilitating dialogue on China to inform a global audience by sharing our expertise in an accessible way.

The speakers involved in China Week represented a range of leading organisations, including the World Economic Forum, United Nations Environment Programme, Harvard Business School, Chatham House, China Dialogue, the Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change at the London School of Economics, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Australian National University, World Resources Institute, the Institute for International Political Studies and more.

Welcoming more than 1,800 guests across the week – both online and in-person – our audience included policymakers, industry leaders, NGOs, researchers and, of course, students.

Check out each individual event for recordings, photos and more details. All of the recorded events are also available on our Youtube channel.

Topics covered during the 2021 China Week included:

  • China’s 2060 carbon pledge and the economic transition to a low carbon future
  • the ‘green steel’ opportunity
  • digital environmental activism in the China
  • biodiversity and COP15
  • the health impacts of climate change
  • the Build Back Better World (B3W) vs the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI)
  • the Green Belt & Road
  • the role of youth in driving change

Download the 2021 China Week programme (2.98 MB PDF).