SOAS China Institute

SOAS is the world’s leading institution for the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. This theme leverages the School’s regional expertise to better understand the global context in which China operates. It will examine China’s efforts to engage with these regions through its flagship Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the response they receive in these regions.

China’s re-emergence as a superpower under a leader determined that his country should take centre stage in world affairs is a major development in the world.  How China engages with the United States of America, the other great powers and the international community have far-reaching implications across many areas, from those of peace and security to climate change to the operation of multilateral agencies such as the United Nations and World Trade Organisation. 

The economic miracle of post-Mao China and implementation of the ‘one child policy’ have had a profound impact on Chinese society, particularly in terms of family and gender relationships.  This research programme not only examines the nature, origins and impact of changes that have unfolded in mainland China, but also contextualises them against parallel developments in Taiwan and Hong Kong, whose citizens also experienced significant changes to family relations and gender mores.

China’s economic transformation since 1978 has been truly astonishing. Domestically, it has removed hundreds of millions of people from poverty, facilitated a consumer revolution and enabled China to join the ranks of Middle Income countries. But it has done so at the expense of widening regional and social inequality. 

Under the Fifth Generation of leaders many are questioning China’s ability to maintain the momentum of growth and transformation and escape the Middle Income Trap. This Programme investigates salient aspects of China’s development strategy and the forces that will shape its future growth trajectory. In particular, it will examine the challenges facing agriculture as it seeks to overcome severe resource pressures and maintain China’s food security.

Working with visual material, ranging from art to advertising, from journalism to propaganda, we will explore innovative methods to visualise how China imagines itself, and how it is imagined elsewhere.  Whilst focusing on art and culture, this theme has a wider disciplinary resonance, and promises to generate new-style scholarly outputs beyond traditional books and articles.

China may have retained the same Leninist political system in place since Mao Zedong was leader, but great changes have taken place since Mao’s death.  One of the most important of these was the institutionalisation of the succession process.  

In 2017, however, this was reversed, with the termination of the term limit for the State Presidency and the inauguration of ‘Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in a New Era’. This Programme provides an in-depth examination of the meaning of Xi Jinping Thought and considers how it will shape China’s politics and the direction of travel set by the Chinese Communist Party.

Human rights and social justice are highly contested terms framing much of the debate about China in other countries. Having become a founding member of the UN Human Rights Council, China is now shaping global human rights agenda. By examining the practical implications of social, political and economic inequality in China, as well as cultural and theoretical understandings of rights and justice from a Chinese perspective, we seek to contribute independent, informed perspectives from which to interpret an often highly polarise debate.

Questions about how religion, ideology and other belief systems not only provide social cohesion, but also produce tensions between different communities lie at the core of this highly complex and interdisciplinary research area. Within this Programme we will examine a range of issues, including China’s governance of ethnic minorities, historical changes in the ruling Party’s own belief system, and the culture of Chinese communities overseas. The Programme also embraces fieldwork among religious groups in China.

The Yenching Academy of Peking University offers a Master's degree in China Studies. This specially designed, English-taught program aims to push the study of China beyond the boundaries of traditionally defined Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines. It creates space to incorporate the diverse backgrounds and experiences of program participants into the study of ancient, modern, and contemporary China, effectively acting as an incubator for innovative approaches to past, present, and future Chinese transformations. 

At the core of the program lies its emphasis on interdisciplinary and the value it assigns to thinking about China's development from both Chinese and international perspectives.

At least one SOAS student each year is accepted by the Yenching Academy via its Scholarship scheme.

Young China Watchers is a dynamic group of China-focused young professionals. Through regular roundtables and talks with senior figures in the China academic, policy and business communities, it provides a chance for engaged individuals to interact and discuss the most pressing issues emerging from China today. Through our growing global network, we seek to foster the next generation of China thought-leaders.

Young China Watchers runs an open membership policy, keen to attract all China-engaged, knowledgeable and policy-interested individuals.  Our purpose is to nurture a new community of people focused on and alert to China’s growing importance in international affairs.

Young China Watchers was first established in Beijing in 2009 and has steadily expanded its network to nine chapters including Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Singapore and Brussels with more than 2,500 members around the world.

Each year, the Young China Watchers offers a mentorship programme which is open to SOAS students. This is a great opportunity to receive advice and support from experienced China professionals to get ahead in a China-based career, as well as getting a head start in building a network in the London-based China watching community.

Beijing Normal University, a key university under the administration of the Ministry of Education, is a renowned institution of higher education known for teacher education, education science and basic learning in both the arts and the sciences.

Zhejiang University is a comprehensive research university with distinctive features and a national as well as international impact. Research at Zhejiang University spans 12 academic disciplines, covering philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, art, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, management and etc. With 7 faculties and 36 colleges/schools, Zhejiang University has 14 primary and 21 secondary national leading academic disciplines. 

Zhejiang University has a partnership of academic exchange with the SOAS China Institute.

In October 2024 the SOAS China Institute entered into a partnership with the Prague-based China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe (CHOICE). The partnership is a collaboration between each institute's respective China-studies blogs, where up to 12 articles will be shared and cross-posted between each blog annually.

CHOICE is a multinational consortium of experts providing informed analysis on the rising influence of the People’s Republic of China within the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and is run by the Association for International Affairs (AMO), a prominent foreign policy think-tank and NGO in Czechia.