Research themes
The CPI and the School are engaged in research on the following themes, forming clusters of activity approached as far as possible from the combined perspective of different disciplines:
1. China’s economic transformation and its global impact
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The widening income gap between rich and poor and between Western China and the prosperous coastal regions
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Financial system reform, the development of China’s capital markets and its banking system
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Barriers to economic growth and the impact of foreign competition
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Science, technology and education policy
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Understanding China today from the perspective of its economic history
2. The impact of China’s rise on its international relations
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China as an emerging superpower
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China’s soft power and its image abroad
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Chinese views of the EU and the implications for the EU’s China policy
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China’s energy security, growing oil demand and sea lane protection
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China’s major corporations and their investment overseas
3. Chinese politics and civil society
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Political reform and democratisation, Chinese-style
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Local democratisation, governance, citizen empowerment, and regime legitimacy in China
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The development of Chinese civil society and its impact
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Interaction between political institutions and civil society in China
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The role of policy entrepreneurship in the reform process
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The role of non-formal education in the development of civil society organisations
4. The development of Chinese enterprises
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China’s large enterprise groups and the emergence of its big corporations
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Overseas investment by Chinese corporations and their international competitiveness
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The reform of state-owned enterprises and their organisational structure
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Labour relations
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Corporate social responsibility
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Investment overseas in the energy and resources sectors
5. Sustainable Development
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China’s environmental history
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The impact of climate change on China
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Mapping the Gobi desert and the geography of knowledge on the Silk Road
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China’s energy security
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Farmer innovation systems on the loess plateau: ecosystem services and poverty alleviation
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Regional environmental regulations and pollution havens in China.
6. Chinese Migration
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The migration of hundreds of millions of people from the countryside to the towns and cities as China urbanises and industrialises
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Chinese migration abroad and issues facing Chinese migrants in Europe and the UK
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The impact of migration on the sending and receiving communities
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Chinese migrant entrepreneurs in Europe
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People smuggling and trafficking, and labour exploitation among Chinese migrants in the UK
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Health and safety among Chinese migrant workers
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The working conditions of Chinese seafarers worldwide
7. The impact of ICT on Chinese politics, society and culture
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How has the internet changed China?
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Social changes and state responses to the revolution in ICT
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The impact of the internet on news coverage, freedom of information and the use of internet as a public space
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The implications of ICT for the future of the one party-state.
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China’s global soft power projection and changing global information flows
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Internet literature, censorship, consumer culture, youth culture and gender