High hopes for new China Research Centre

Director has high hopes for new China Research Centre

Professor Xiaoming Huang’s hopes for the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre are as expansive as the giant country itself.

The Victoria Professor of International Relations has been appointed Director of the new centre, based at Victoria University of Wellington, which will be formally launched in April.

Professor Huang says the aim of the Centre is to provide a national platform for China-related research and knowledge sharing.

"This is an outstanding initiative that will greatly enhance capability building and knowledge sharing between tertiary institutions, the business community, and public sector organisations in New Zealand for effective engagement with China," he says.

The establishment of the Centre is supported by funding from the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission and will be led by Victoria University in partnership with the Universities of Otago and Canterbury.

Professor Huang says the opening of the Centre is both timely and vital. "China has become a major research area in almost every discipline of the social sciences, humanities, law and commerce. We hope the Centre will help advance the level of China studies in New Zealand and, in doing so, Victoria's leadership in emerging and cluster social science research areas."

The Centre’s primary research focus will be on contemporary China, initially on issues such as the political economy of China's transformation, marketing and business management in China, the legal framework for business in China and international law issues in New Zealand-China relations, as well as the impact of China in the Asia-Pacific region.

Professor Huang says New Zealand’s relationship with China will be central to the research. For example, the free trade agreement—China's first with a western country—will provide an important research area over the next few years.

The Centre will not just provide a hub for academic research on China, but also help foster knowledge sharing and capability building between New Zealand universities and their stakeholders. "Through regional symposia, lectures, a national repository of information, and executive training programmes, the Centre endeavours to make Chinese knowledge and skills more accessible to the wider New Zealand society."

The Centre will also foster a more active relationship with Chinese universities to bring expertise and skills to New Zealand via student and staff exchange programmes, joint research projects with Chinese academics, visiting speakers and fellow programmes, as well as the annual Wellington conference on China.

The New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre will be officially launched on 14 April, coinciding with a conference on the role of institutions in China's profound transformation of the past 30 years.
ends
 

© Scoop Media