In this panel, experts Rex Li (Affiliate), Steven Lynch MBE (Eastern Powerhouse) and Winnie King (University of Bristol) discuss the future for UK-China relations, exploring the differences in how China is now perceived in the UK since the golden era and how the new Labour government might respond, chaired by Lau Chair of Chinese International Relations, Astrid Nordin.

Join us to celebrate the opening of China Week 2024 with a panel discussion on the UK's relationship with China followed by drinks reception on Monday 14 October, 6.30pm.

This is an in-person event. Registration is required. This event will be recorded. 

Speakers

Rex Li is a Research Affiliate of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London. A specialist in international relations and foreign policy, he has been Director of the East Asian Security and Peace Project funded by the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences. He was a Professor of International Relations at Liverpool John Moores University and a Research Associate of the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University. Professor Li has lectured at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. He has also been an invited speaker at many universities and international affairs think-tanks in the UK, Europe and Asia. He has served as an Associate Editor of Security Dialogue (Peace Research Institute Oslo/Sage). His research focuses on identity construction and security discourse, Asia-Pacific security, China’s foreign relations, US-China-Russia relations, and UK-China relations.

Steven Lynch MBE is Executive Director of the Eastern Powerhouse, Director of Beijing to Britain and Chairman of the IoD China Group was recently awarded an MBE for services to the British Business Community in China in His Majesty the King's 2024 New Year Honours List. Steven is the former Managing Director of the British Chamber of Commerce in China. Steven has returned to the UK after 12 years in Beijing, China. He is a strategic leader with extensive experience in international relations, public policy and government affairs strategies. Steven has an MSc in Business strategy from Warwick Business School.

Winnie King is senior lecturer in Chinese International Political Economy at the University of Bristol, Director at the UK National Committee on China (UKNCC), and Associate of the Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge. She is a specialist in Chinese strategies of economic development, and has been working on Sino-UK political and economic relations and Britain’s China policy for over ten years. She has served as a Parliamentary Academic Fellow in the House of Commons Library (International Affairs and Defence Section) China Specialist. Her research interests include Chinese economic and development policy and the impact that both domestic and international factors play in its decision-making process; Taiwan-China relations and Greater China regional economic ties; China’s approach to Economic Security; China’s Nuclear and Energy Strategy; China's financial liberalisation and reform (with specific reference to Renminbi Internationalisation); and China’s tech strategies. Dr King has a DPhil from the University of Oxford, St Antony's College.

Astrid Nordin holds the Lau Chair of Chinese International Relations in the Lau China Institute. She is also Senior Fellow of the Institute for Social Futures, and Associate Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.