Aalborg University invites proposals for presentations at the Conference - Probing China’s Way Forward in An Era of Uncertainties and Disorder – which is to be held on November 10 at Aalborg University. It is the third in a series of conferences addressing China affairs from Danish, European and international perspectives. The conference intends to gather researchers, academics, policymakers, and postgraduate students in Denmark to share their China-related expertise, debate important issues, and discuss the challenges and implications for Denmark and beyond.

The war in Ukraine has meant that the world is seemingly entering into an era of disorder characterized by great power rivalry and realpolitik. The Ukraine crisis has brought war back to Europe again, and it is, in all its dimensions, producing alarming cascading effects to a world economy already battered by COVID-19. China-Russia’s de facto alliance and China’s ambivalent   position on the war has added a shadow to the already weakened relationship with the EU and has intensified its competition with the US. International media and commentators are also beginning to draw the geopolitical similarities between Ukraine and Taiwan, creating further fears and uncertainties. All these problems and challenges, are all linked in one way or another with the ongoing comprehensive geopolitical rivalry between China and the US. These broad global developments have brought about actual imperativeness and impetus to the significance of the conference.

Domestically, many of China’s socio-economic and socio-political issues discussed in the 2021 network conference at DIIS – “Economic restructuring for improving efficiency and sustainability, technological advancement, the relationship between the public and private sectors, regional and societal inequality, an ageing society, and Party-society relations in the age of diversity and digitalization” – still remain China’s serious challenges. In addition, COVID-19 continues to have a big impact on China’s economy amid its external great power competition. Controversies on Beijing’s zero-Covid policy are becoming a force for division and disagreement both at the internal and external levels. Currently, one of the central schemes in Beijing’s political agenda is “common prosperity”, which involves delicate and complicated relationships between wealth redistribution mechanisms and China’s private sectors and transnational companies.

The conference organizer invites proposals for presentations that contribute to discussions of the above themes. We welcome contributions on a variety of themes, for instance:  

1. China’s domestic politics and governance
2. China’s socio-cultural and demographic challenges and changes
3. China’s environmental sustainability and climate governance
4. China’s economic development, market performance and international business
5. China’s technological development and socio-political impact
6. The role of history, religion, and culture in contemporary China affairs
7. China’s foreign policy, international and transnational relations
8. Pandemic cooperation with China in research, education, and business

Program

9:00 - 9:15	Welcome Rasmus Antoft, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, AAU Li Xing, Professor, Department of Politics and Society, AAU
9:15 - 10:15	Keynote Chair: Jesper Willaing Zeuthen A False Equation: The Danger of Missing the Difference Between China and Russia Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova, Head of Asia Program, Latvian Institute of International Affairs​
10:30 - 12:00	Panel 1 Chair: Mette Thunø Towards a multi-order world Li Xing, professor, AAU An emerging green investor-state? How China uses state-backed investment funds in its green transition Kasper Ingeman Beck, postdoc, CBS Periodizing the Varieties of Capitalism Approach: a comparative-historical study of China’s innovation policies and state-permeated market economy Alexander Linyu Qian, postdoc, RUC and Xuan Li, postdoc, CBS China – Iran relations in context of the changing world order Lars Erslev Andersen, senior researcher, DIIS The Rising China and Regional Re-ordering in East Asia: Multilateralism with Chinese characteristics? Wang Sen, PhD fellow, AAU
12:00 - 12:45	Lunch
12:45 - 14:15	Panel 2 Chair: Yang Jiang Digitized Diaspora Governance during the COVID-19 Pandemic: China’s Diaspora Mobilization and Chinese Migrant Responses in Italy  Mette Thunø, Associate Professor, AU The multiple faces of China’s local Cyberspace Administrations: Stability maintenance, internet regulation, and/or digital economy Yi Ma, postdoc, KU and Liu Chunrong, Fudan-European Centre for China Studies, Oslo The Global Politics of Data Protection Laws Maj Grasten, Assistant Professor, CBS and Wen Xiang, Associate Professor, KU The governance of dissidence in China – the case of Xu Zhiyong Jørgen Delman, Emeritus Professor, KU A Reception History of China in Early 20th Century: A case study of Playgrounds Xu Xinrui, PhD fellow, AAU
14:15 - 14:45	Coffee break
14:45 - 16:15	Panel 3 Chair: Li Xing The Sky is Falling, the Earth is quaking. Deconstruction of the American Narrative about China. The collapse of US-China Co-operation since 2017 Carsten Boyer Thøgersen, Consul General (retired) The West knows Better? A case study of the dynamic evolution of knowledge transfer between a Swiss subsidiary and its Chinese partner company Wang Daojuan, Associate Professor, AAU Common Prosperity: A search for new legitimacy in the 21st Century Yang Jiang, Senior Researcher, DIIS Navigating politically unstable environment: A review of multinationals Tao Yiran, PhD fellow, AAU China’s Digital Future Erik Baark, Hongkong University of Science and Technology Workshop on how to do research in China after COVID 19 (by invitation only) Chair: Jesper Willaing Zeuthen The participants present how they have adjusted/designed research projects to accommodate Covid19 and how they envision cooperation and data collection in China after COVID 19. Findings will be presented at the roundtable. Ane Bislev, Associate Professor, AAU Guan Yue, Assistant Professor, AU Jiang Qiuyu, postdoc, AU Wang Qi, Associate Professor, SDU Yi Ma, postdoc, KU Zhu Wei, PhD fellow, AU Naja Morell Hjortshøj, PhD fellow, AU
16:15 - 16:30	Break
16:30- 18:00	Roundtable on collaboration with China Chair: Jørgen Delman Presentation of findings from the workshop, and outline of potentially important issues  for future cooperation with China. Panel Discussion. Panelists: Carsten Boyer Thøgersen, Li Xing, Mette Thunø, Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova, Yang Jiang, and Jesper Willaing Zeuthen
18:30 →	Dinner Asia Fusion, Østerågade 3, 9000 Aalborg

Practical info:

If you wish to present a paper at the conference, please send a short abstract of 250 words including a title of the presentation and a short personal biography to: DaCC2022@conference.aau.dk

Deadline: October 10, 2022

The organizers will cover two nights at a hotel in Aalborg, a train ticket, and meals during the conference for paper presenters.

It is also possible to participate in the conference without presenting a paper. All participants need to register before November 1.

If you have any questions, please send us an email: DaCC2022@conference.aau.dk

Important dates:

• Deadline for abstract submission: September 16, 2022
• Acceptance deadline: October 1, 2022
• Conference date: November 10, 2022, 9:00 – 18:00 + conference dinner in the evening