Ongoing series
- LUCC Research Seminar Series: LUCC's research seminar series, presenting new research on Cina across all fields, from LUCC fellows and outside presenters.
- LUCC Interdisciplinary Roundtable Lunches: bringing together academics across disciplines to discuss key issues facing China-engaged research at a time of rapid technological change and rising geopolitical tension.
- LUCC PhD Seminars: LUCC provides a PhD seminar series for postgraduate students working on, in, or with China to present and discuss their work over lunch at Lancaste University.
Recordings of many past events are available on .
To stay informed of all our upcoming events, please sign up to our mailing list at: china.centre@lancaster.ac.uk.
For past issues of our Newsletter, see LUCC News.
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Upcoming Events
Summer term
7 August 2026
Western Mirror or Southern Narrative? The Discursive Construction of China's National Image in Global South Media——A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of South Africa's The Star
Research Seminar
Speaker: Shimin Li (Southwest Jiaotong University)
Venue and time: County South B59, 1-2pm, 7 August 2026
The global rise of China has sparked sustained international attention regarding its national image. However, existing research predominantly focuses on China-related narratives in mainstream Western media. This raises critical questions: How do Global South media construct China's image? Do they remain confined within Western discursive frameworks, or do they offer an independent Southern perspective? Through a Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis, this study aims to reveal the logic behind The Star’s representation of China.
Speaker bio: Shimin Li is an Associate Professor in the School of Marxism at Southwest Jiaotong University. As a LUCC Visiting Scholar, Dr Li is investigating the construction and dissemination of China’s image in the international public sphere.
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18 August 2026
文献学视角下的中共党史研究 —以新发现的毛泽东、习仲勋佚文为中心 (Studies on the History of CPC from the perspective of Philology: the lost articles of Mao Zedong and Xi Zhongxun)
Research Seminar
Speaker: Jianfeng Wang (Fuzhou University)
Venue and time: County South B59, 1-2pm, 18 August 2026,
Please note, this seminar will be conducted in Chinese language
文献学是历史研究的基础，也是中共党史研究的基础。借鉴文献学的视角，新发现毛泽东佚文1篇、习仲勋佚文1篇。新发现的毛泽东、习仲勋重要文献，是中共党史界的重大发现，对推动毛泽东研究、习仲勋研究、中共党史研究具有重要的意义。Philology is the basis of historical research as well as studies on history of CPC. Based on Philology, the author found two lost articles of Mao Zedong and Xi Zhongxun , which are not included in their complete works or collected works. The new-found articles of Mao Zedong and Xi Zhongxun are important discoveries, which have great significance for studies on Mao Zedong, Xi Zhongxun and history of CPC.
作者介绍：王建丰，福州大学外国语学院副教授，博士毕业于中国社会科学院。研究兴趣包括：文献学、翻译文献学、翻译史、中共党史、报刊研究等。著有《上海沦陷时期报刊翻译文学研究》（复旦大学出版社，2020）。新发现毛泽东、习仲勋、胡适、许广平、姜椿芳等重要文献多篇，在学界产生一定影响。Jianfeng Wang is an Associate Professor in the School of Foreign Studies at Fuzhou University, China. He received his PhD from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His research interests include philology, translation philology, translation history, history of CPC and studies on newspapers and magazines. His doctoral dissertation Studies on the Translated Literature on the Newspapers and Magazines in Japan-occupied Shanghai (1941-1945) was published by Fudan University Press in 2020.
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Corporate Socialist Responsibility? Mobilising Multinational Corporations in Pursuit of New Quality Productive Forces
Research Seminar
Speaker: Mike Gow (Edge Hill University)
Time: TBC
In 2023, Xi Jinping first made reference to the term New Quality Productive Forces (NQPF). This presentation discusses the NQPF (i) as a concept rooted in Marxism; (ii) as a central tenet of Xi Jinping’s New Era geopolitical and economic strategy, and (iii) how NQPF may be realised. The presentation will clarify the specific meaning of this term in Marxist parlance, avoiding common issues where NQPF is erroneously equated with the means of labour or conflated with the means of production. Such an understanding is crucial to recognising the distinct approach to development in contemporary China. Consideration is then given to the means by which NQPF are being developed through an articulation between the needs to the state and private sector through an analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives developed by multinational corporations operating in the PRC and, crucially, the Party-State’s co-optation of these CSR initiatives through the distribution of symbolic capital.
Speaker bio: Dr. Mike Gow is Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Business and Management at Edge Hill University Business School. Mike's research focuses on contemporary China, exploring the role of consumerism and industry in state-building projects - with a focus on developments in the 21st century. His research aims to understand the mobilization of the private sector in relation to superstrcutural reform; the role consumerism plays in both reproducing and transforming contemporary Chinese society; how the state, civil society and the private sector combine to "create" citizens in Xi Jinping's New Era.
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Grassroots Celebrity in the Chinese Digital Sphere
Research Seminar
Speaker: Sharon Zheng (Sociology / LUCC, 快播视频)
Time: TBC
The global pandemic motivated the emergence of grassroots celebrities in healthcare who led online opinion through their professional insights and sharing of health and medical-related knowledge in China. A certain number of practitioners introduced their professional guidance to general netizens through pay-for-answer subscription with the help of Chinese social media. This article interrogates grassroots celebrities via Zhihu, China’s largest community for questions and answers (CQA). It extends Western-focused scholarship on microcelebrities.
Speaker bio: Sharon Zheng is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Culture in the Sociology Department at 快播视频. Sharon's research areas cross over popular culture (e.g. audience/ fan/ consumer/ celebrity culture), gender studies (e.g. feminism and motherhood), British/Chinese TV and media ecosystem/landscape. She is also interested in media and cultural policy, social and digital media studies in China particularly.
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Recent Events
- LUCC events in 2025
- LUCC events in 2024
- LUCC events in 2023
- LUCC events in 2022
- LUCC events in 2021
- LUCC events in 2020
- LUCC events in 2019
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10 July 2026
Memoirs of a Confucius Institute Director, Volume 1: Challenges, Controversies, and Realities
Research seminar
Speakers: Jinghan Zeng (CityU Hong Kong), Andrea Ghiselli (Exeter University)
Time and place: 3pm Friday 10 July, County South D72
快播视频 China Centre seminar with Prof Jinghan Zeng of City University of Hong Kong introducing his book on Confucius Institutes, based on his time as UK Director of 快播视频 Confucius Institute. Dr Andrea Ghiselli of Exeter University will provide commentary on the book as discussant. From the publisher:
As China’s flagship platform for cultural diplomacy and international engagement, the global expansion of Confucius Institutes has been accompanied by growing controversy—particularly in the West. This book—and the volumes that follow—is the first of its kind to demystify Confucius Institutes through the personal account of a director. Drawing on the author’s unique background as a Chinese national serving as a UK director and a scholar of Chinese politics, this book offers a rare and nuanced perspective on a deeply contested issue. During the author’s over six-year directorship, his Confucius Institute became an award-winning organisation, receiving recognition both internally and externally. At the same time, he led the Institute in overcoming a series of existential and structural challenges—from navigating the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and adapting to the dissolution of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, to responding to the UK’s then-ruling party’s campaign to ban Confucius Institutes.
This book offers behind-the-scenes insights into key leadership decisions, internal and external challenges, and the pivotal events that shaped this turbulent era. It also directly addresses the prevailing accusations against Confucius Institutes—that they operate as instruments of propaganda, geopolitical influence, or even espionage, and that they compromise academic freedom or surveil Chinese students abroad. These claims are critically examined through the lens of the author’s lived experience, exposing how political and media narratives in the West often amplify legitimate concerns while oversimplifying complexities and misrepresenting on-the-ground realities.
Speaker bios:
- Jinghan Zeng is a Professor at City University of Hong Kong. Previously, he served as Director of the Confucius Institute at 快播视频, leading a multicultural team of nearly 30 staff. He is the author of several books and over thirty peer-reviewed articles on Chinese politics.
- Andrea Ghiselli is Lecturer in International Politics in the Department of Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy, and Anthropology of the University of Exeter. Dr Ghiselli is also non-resident research fellow with the and the Head of Research for its .
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26 June 2026
Styling Sustainability: Language, Informal Learning, and Class Distinction in Shanghai’s Fashion Economy
Research Seminar
Speaker: Qin Fan, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, PRC
Time and place: 1-2pm, Friday 26 June, County South C89
This paper adopts Bourdieu’s (1984) conceptualisation of taste and distinction to examine the role of language in Shanghai’s post-reform landscape, focusing on how informal learning serves as a tool for organisational styling in the sustainable fashion sector. Informal learning through lectures, exhibitions, and workshops serves not only as a means of education but also as an entryway into the “knowledge-led” and “discourse-led” economy (Fairclough, 2002), where semiotic resources become essential to branding and value creation. The analysis is based on data collected from Shanghai-based sustainable fashion brands and a consulting firm, both of which target upwardly mobile, globally engaged urban elites. Employing a mixed-methods approach combining multi-sited ethnography and corpus-assisted discourse study (CADS), this study identifies a discourse of trust and four rhetorical strategies that mobilise sustainability as symbolic capital: (i.) showcasing traceability and transparency, (ii.) leveraging the power of knowledge, (iii.) advocating eco-altruism, and (iv.) managing a fan base and fostering close customer ties. These strategies reveal how knowledge and sustainability are discursively constructed as a means of distinction, creating value for elite consumers through discourses that are globally informed yet locally situated. The findings demonstrate how Shanghai’s sustainable fashion industry exemplifies Fairclough’s (1996) concept of the “technologisation of discourse”, whereby language is used to commodify knowledge, shaping aspirational lifestyles and maintaining class distinction in a globally connected economy.
Speaker bio: Qin Fan is a lecturer at the School of Humanities and International Studies, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power in China. Her research explores sustainable fashion branding in Shanghai’s high-end market by examining how brands discursively construct added value for their products. She is also interested in how Chinese middle- and upper-middle-class identities are represented in business and branding discourse, particularly the cultural meanings embedded in sustainability rhetoric and in how language shapes consumer identity in contemporary urban China.
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9 June 2026
Global Public Opinion on China: Insights from 25 Years of Surveys
Research seminar
Speaker: Andrew Chubb (School of Global Affairs / LUCC) and Gabriel Wallin (School of Mathematical Sciences)
Time and place: Tuesday 9 June, 1-2pm, County South D72
Public discussion on China’s international image commonly revolves around a divide between the developed and developing world’s attitudes toward China. Yet the drivers of any such divergence are little understood. Past research has found views of China correlate negatively with democracy and economic development, and positively with non-Western cultural backgrounds, but have such relationships been strengthening or weakening over time? Do the answers vary across different regions? This article offers unprecedented insight into these questions leveraging a unique dataset of more than 2600 survey results from across 159 countries over a 25-year sweep.
Bios: Andrew Chubb is a Senior Lecturer in Chinese Politics and International Relations in the School of Global Affairs, and director of the 快播视频 China Centre. Gabriel Wallin is a Lecturer in Statistics in the School of Mathematical Sciences, with interests in the intersection between latent variable modeling and statistical learning.
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15 May 2026
Can the UK and China cooperate? Lessons from Australia
Research seminar
Speaker: Prof. Mark Beeson, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia
Time and place: Friday 15 May 2026, 1-2pm, County South C89
The administration of Donald Trump has created chaos and upended alliances around the world. Even America’s most loyal and enthusiastic partners are being forced to reconsider their foreign policy in the wake of the conflict in Iran. Could Australian policymakers think the unthinkable and cooperate with China to provide some much needed regional and even global leadership when the US is clearly unwilling and possibly incapable? This presentation argues that China provides a potentially more predictable partner for a range of pressing problems, and considers the implications for the UK’s relations with China.
Speaker bio: Mark Beeson is an Adjunct Professor at the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI). His latest book is Environmental Anarchy? International Security in the 21st Century (Bristol University Press, 2021).
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24 March 2026
Chinese Readings of EU Strategic Autonomy: Evidence, Trends, and Policy Implications (2017–2024)
Research Seminar
Speaker: Prof. Weiqing Song (University of Macau)
Time and place: 12-1pm, County South D72
How do Chinese IR scholars interpret the EU’s drive for European Strategic Autonomy (ESA), and what does it mean for China–EU relations? Drawing on Chinese-language publications from 2017 to 2024, this talk combines macro bibliometrics with close reading of key texts and symposium records. It traces a shift from early optimism to pragmatic ambivalence, showing how ESA is increasingly viewed through geopolitical and economic-security lenses—linking defense, technology standards, and supply-chain risk—rather than as a normative project. The talk examines how this discourse foregrounds the U.S. factor, complicates functional cooperation, and informs policy debates on differentiated engagement, conditional reciprocity, and calibrated openness.
Speaker Bio: Weiqing Song is Associate Professor of International Relations and Jean Monnet Chair in EU Foreign Policy at the University of Macau, Macao S.A.R., China. His research examines Chinese foreign policy, especially discourse and transnational norms, the European Union, Sino-European relations, critical geopolitics, and postcolonial studies. His work has been published in leading journals and edited volumes.
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6 Match 2026
Chinese Art Seminar Series
PhD Seminar Series
Speakers: Jing Hui (Educational Research / LUCC, 快播视频), Xueting Luo (University of Leeds), Wen Li (University of Newcastle), Gao Yiwei (Macau University of Science and Technology)
Time: 1-5pm, Friday 6 March, 2026
Place: please email LUCC china.centre@lancaster.ac.uk to reserve a spot
This LUCC PhD Seminar Series on the theme of Chinese art brings together doctoral researchers from around the UK to present and exchange ideas on topics including:
- Chinese Music in the UK: Sound, Culture and the Erhu
- From Brush to Body: Flow in Chinese Calligraphy and Dance
- Micro-Dramas, "Shuanggan" (Instant Gratification), and Emotional Value in Chinese Digital Content
- Chinese Urban Folk Dance: A Form of Transcultural Dance.
All are welcome, please email LUCC china.centre@lancaster.ac.uk to reserve a place.
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4 March 2026
The Cost of State-Coordinated Altruism in China
Research Seminar
Speaker: Wang Zheng (Dundee University)
Time: 2-3pm Weds, 4 March 2026 - jointly hosted with the 快播视频 Confucius Institute
Place: please for details
Economist Zheng Wang from the University of Dundee will discuss 'The Cost of State-Coordinated Altruism in China'. Professor Wang will look at a specific social programme in China to understand its cost on firms and the mechanisms underlying the patterns found. This seminar is co-hosted by 快播视频 Confucius Institute and 快播视频 China Centre.
Speaker bio: Prof. Zheng Wang is Chair of Economics in the School of Business at Dundee University. He holds PhDs from the University of Nottingham and Zhejiang University, and his first degree also from Zhejiang University, all in economics.
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6 Feb 2026
Transnational Repression and Foreign Interference in Canada: A Public Opinion Survey and Government’s Responses
Roundtable
Speaker: Prof. Lynette Ong, University of Toronto
Time: 12-1pm, Friday 6 Feb - co-hosted with the Richardson Institute for Peace Studies
Place: D72 County South
Prof. Ong will present findings from a national public opinion survey about Canadians' perceptions of foreign interference in the country, and recent measures taken by the Canadian government to address foreign interference and transnational repression (TNR) in Canada, with an emphasis on threats from the PRC. LUCC and Richardson Institute participants will share work on TNR in the UK, the Joint Committee on Human Rights' Inquiry, and the UK government’s responses. Plans for academic publications will also be discussed. Findings from Prof. Ong’s survey are available at:
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13 Jan 2026
Making Islam Chinese: the Sinicisation of Islam in Hui Communities, 2017-present
Research Seminar
Speaker: Hannah Theaker (Plymouth University)
Time: 1-2pm 13 Jan 2026
Place: County South D72
This talk traces the evolution, implementation and impact of the contemporary sinicisation of Islam campaigns in the PRC. The paper traces the conception and evolution of the programme, exploring the policy basis as found in Xinjiang Papers Document No. 10 and the Five Year Plan for the Sinicisation of Islam (2018-2022) as published by the China Islamic Association. In addition, the question of discursive links to the rhetoric surrounding the ‘People’s War on Terror’ and ‘counter-extremist’ policy enacted in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region since 2014 is explored. I then examine the implementation of the measures across five main policy areas, namely aesthetics, organisation, language and education, surveillance and control and mosque mergers. The paper concludes that contemporary sinicisation policy, whilst it is iterative and varies in implementation across the space of China, is radically narrowing the space in which to be Muslim across China, and has profound implications for Hui (Sino-Muslim) communities.
Speaker bio: Dr Hannah Theaker is Lecturer in History and Politics at the University of Plymouth. Dr Theaker's work explores empire, rebellion, migration and the co-construction of religion and ethnicity in China’s northwest. Dr Theaker was previously the Plumer Junior Research Fellow in Oriental Studies, St Anne's College, University of Oxford, and holds a PhD from the University of Oxford.