Winner announced - Lau China Institute & Young China Watchers Essay Competition 2024

The Lau China Institute together with Young China Watchers are delighted to announce the winner and runners up of this year's essay competition. Entrants were invited to submit essays exploring the theme of this year's China Week - 'Whither the China Model: the economic, developmental and social challenges facing China today'.

Jotham Chu was awarded first prize for his essay which looked at China’s new vehicle sector as a double-edged sword for economic revitalisation. Jotham highlighted the sector's potential for offering multifaceted solutions to China’s economic challenges, acknowledged its current limitations, and considered strategies for how these might be overcome in the future.

“As a cornerstone of China's industrial policy, the New Energy Vehicle sector represents not just a transition to greener transportation, but a strategic move to position China at the forefront of global automotive innovation.” – Jotham Chu

This year's highly commended essays were by Xumeng Deng who discussed China’s response to the economic, social and environmental challenges posed by climate change. And Maria Anna Sampson for her essay looking at the role of demographics in the China Model, as both a challenge and an opportunity for economic growth. Read in full. 

“China’s growth has been a model to nations worldwide – the world must hope that its efforts to tackle the climate crisis can be too.” – Xumeng Deng

“Demographic trends played an unparalleled role in China’s economic success and slowdown and are also a fundamental reason why the Chinese experience cannot be replicated elsewhere.” – Maria Anna Sampson

The judges

A special thank you to our judges for scoring this year's entries. Our judging panel comprised:

• Xinran - author, journalist and activist, known for her ground-breaking work in documenting the hidden stories of Chinese people;
• Yizhe Daniel Xie - a portfolio strategist/economist and a non-resident fellow at the Centre for China Globalization (CCG);
• Jan Knoerich - Reader in China and the Global Political Economy at the Lau China Institute, School of Global Affairs, King’s College London.