Promoting the study of contemporary China

The Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies (CCCS) plays a vital role in shaping an Australian approach to the study of contemporary China, and serves as a significant source of research-based information on China, Chinese societies and Chinese economies in the 21st century.

The Centre's mission is to transform our understanding of contemporary China and its place in the world, and to identify and nurture the young intellectual, business and political leaders who will guide the Australia-China relationship in coming decades. The Centre enhances Australia's bilateral partnerships with top Chinese universities and acts as a hub for contemporary China studies in Melbourne.

Directors Profile

Staff Profiles

Australia in the Asian Century

The University of Melbourne is at the forefront of Australian Research on China. The university has one of the oldest and largest Chinese Studies programs in Australia and is one of the largest concentrations of multi-disciplinary expertise on China and Chinese societies within Australasia.

Australia continues to debate how it should position itself in a world shaped by the rise of China. Domestically, Chinese investment in certain sectors is coming under increased scrutiny, while the Australian Government's response to the geopolitical implications of China's growing wealth and power has been uncertain. The end of the mining boom raises a whole new set of questions about how social, economic and political affairs in the Chinese century should be managed. As a focal point for the University's China expertise, the Centre can inform these debates and help guide business people, policy-makers, educators and the general public as they negotiate the Asian Century.

Objectives

1. To raise the profile and reputation of the University nationally and internationally by harnessing China-related research from within the Faculty of Arts and across the University
2. To provide a highly visible, interdisciplinary, research-focused nexus physically and virtually so as to create and support expert networks for local and international engagements within this area of research
3. To provide a framework and focal point for the University's extensive China and Chinese-related teaching, research and research training, and to lead and support the development of new China-related projects
4. To assist with the development and realisation of the University's strategy for an enhanced engagement with China and the Asia-Pacific region

Asia Scholars

The Asia Scholars Program provides new joint appointments across the Faculty of Arts, targeting outstanding scholars from the Asia region. The Program builds the Faculty's research, teaching and engagement profile through collaborative research projects and joint publications with scholars from the best universities in the Asia region.

The Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies is pleased to host two Asia Scholars: Professor Yao Yang (Peking University) and Professor Martin K. Whyte (Harvard University). Yao Yang will return to the Centre from mid July to August 2017 after short visits in 2015 and 2016, strengthening the collaboration between the Centre and Peking University's National School of Development on China's economic transition and development. Martin Whyte will join the Centre (and the School of Social and Political Sciences) for three months in 2017 (February to May), 2018 and 2019 contributing to teaching and collaborative research on the sociology of contemporary China.

Asia Scholars

The Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies (CCCS) welcomes applications from students to study for a PhD in Chinese Studies by research.

As The University of Melbourne's hub for Chinese Studies, the Centre provides students with an interdisciplinary, collaborative and rigorous research environment in which to pursue their interests. Addressing the challenges and opportunities of the Asian Century necessitates closer understanding of and partnership with China on a number of fronts. Understanding contemporary China is part of defining the contours of economic cooperation, such as through trade and investment and taxes; political collaboration such as effective diplomacy and sustainable security; and social connection through building peer-to-peer linkages and addressing shared social challenges such as an ageing population.

The Centre welcomes enquiries from graduate students with the requisite analytical skills in the social sciences who wish to pursue PhD thesis topics on contemporary China’s economy, politics, society and environment. Our team of early career and established researchers can supervise students on topics including economic development, public finance, public administration, governance, trade and security, social policy (health, education, housing), urbanisation (land use, zoning, rural-to-urban migration), agricultural development, environmental management and other topics.

Initial enquiries should be directed to china-centre@unimelb.edu.au

The table below lists students currently undertaking PhD studies with the Centre and the title of their theses.

Name		Titles	Supervisor
Zengji REN		Literacy and School Libraries in Tibet: The Contradictions of Policy and Practice	Professor Christine Wong
Randong YUAN		Exploring options for Social Security Reform in China: A Quantitative Simulation approach with Subnational Modelling	Professor Christine Wong
Zhenjie (Jack) YUAN		Multicultural encounters and power reconstruction in China's dislocated boarding schools: case studies of Xinjiang Neidi Class	Professor Christine Wong
Lei YU		State-Market dynamics in China's Affordable Housing provision	Professor Christine Wong
Xiao (Monica) TAN		Towards enhanced primary care system in China: Redefining the Governments role	Professor Christine Wong
Tianru GUAN		How do the different framings of Senkaku/Diaoyu islands territorial disputes in Chinese broadsheets reflect China's policy towards Japan	Dr Sow Keat Tok
Ted LIU		As assertive China in the Middle East to North Africa: more autonomy for the Arab States?	Dr Sow Keat Tok
Tianyang LIU		The Politics of the Self: Regulatory Representation of Terrorism in the Xinjiang Region	Dr Sow Keat Tok
Taotao ZHAO		Design versus implementation: the central-local policy gap in China's ethnic minority policy	Dr Sow Keat Tok
Yao SONG		Theoretical Analysis on the Drivers of China's Central Asia Policy from 2001 to the present	Dr Sow Keat Tok

Scholarships

Applicants should also consider Australian Postgraduate Awards and other scholarship opportunities at the university while applying for the Oriental Studies Trust Fund.

Oriental Studies Trust Fund

The Oriental Studies Trust Fund - Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies Scholarship is a living allowance to be awarded annually to students who have applied for admission to or are currently enrolled in a PhD degree at The University of Melbourne on a topic related to public policy, economics and society related to Chinese public policy.

Applications for this scholarship are not currently open.

For more information please email China Centre.

Taiwan Ministry of Education APEC Scholarship

The Ministry of Education in Taiwan is partnering with universities to offer a scholarship to students of the member economies of APEC for a PhD candidate or postdoctoral research fellow.

For more information please see the

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) scholarship flyer

Further details are available on the APEC Education Portal.
Enquiries should be emailed to australia@mail.moe.gov.tw

Subjects available in 2018

Graduate Coursework
Semester 1

Social Change in Contemporary China (ASIA90014)
Professor Martin Whyte
This subject presents an overview of the patterns of social life in China and how these have changed since the revolution in 1949. The socialist transformations led by Mao Zedong after 1949 and the market and other reforms led by Deng Xiaoping after 1978 receive equal emphasis. Topics covered include political institutions, economic policies and work organizations, rural social life, urban life and urbanization, religion, family life, population, gender relations, schooling, and inequality patterns. The course will be taught by Martin Whyte, a sociologist from Harvard University and Asia Scholar at the University of Melbourne who specializes in research on social change in post-1949 China. Prof. Whyte’s lectures will focus on both the origins and dynamics of social change in China as well as current issues and debates spawned by these changes. Documentary films dealing with contemporary social patterns and trends in China may be shown outside of class hours.

For further information please see the Handbook entry

Graduate Coursework
Semester 2

China and the Environment (ASIA900016)
Dr Sarah Rogers
This subject provides an introduction to the key environmental challenges in contemporary China and to China’s environmental governance. The subject is structured around four topics: water resources, land resources, air pollution, and energy andclimate change. For each of these topics lectures and tutorials will analyse impacts, policy and governance arrangements, citizen and NGO involvement, government and media discourse, and international linkages. Students will be introduced to key theoretical debates in China studies, development studies and human geography to help them understand the complexities of China’s environmental challenges. Using the environment as a lens, students will gain an understanding of politics and state-society relations in contemporary China.

For further information please see the Handbook entry

China's Economic and Social Development (ASIA90011)
Professor Christine Wong
This subject examines China’s economic and social development experience from a generally economic standpoint. Contents include: patterns of traditional Chinese society and economy; geography and resource constraints, development since 1949, the transition to a market economy and contemporary problems and options.

For further information please see the Handbook entry

Contemporary China (ASIA90017)
This subject provides an introduction to Contemporary China, focusing on the economy, politics, society, and China’s changing role in the world. Topics will include China’s economic history from the early 20th Century, its geography and resource constraints, the Maoist economy, market reforms, migration and urbanization, global economic integration, and China's future.

For further information please see the Handbook entry

Rising China in the Globalised World (INTS90007)
Dr Sow Keat Tok
This subject looks at the impact of a rising China in the globalised world. It examines contemporary China's relations with various powers, regions and global institutions, particularly in the context of its phenomenal rise in the last fourdecades. The subject also explores key issues related to China's rise: state-society relations, economic development, participation in regional and global institutions, disputes and conflict resolution etc.

For further information please see the Handbook entry

Asia and the World (ASIA90008)
Dr Sow Keat Tok
This is an advanced introduction to international politics in Asia. The subject explores the shift of global power to Asia and and provides a broad coverage of the regions relations with the great powers and international/regional institutions, including important issues like democratisation, economic globalisation and security. The course consists of three sections. The first section provides historical reviews of developments in Asia through understanding the roles played by external powers, and how the Asian powers are aligned both vertically (historically) and horizontally (across a specific historical juncture). Section two examines the issue of economic globalisation after the 1990s, particularly the rise of China and India. These seminars also cover Asia’s responses to economic globalisation by looking at particular reforms at the state level and initiatives at the regional level. The last section investigates topical interests related to Asia: democratisation, the environment, energy security and other security issues.

For further information please see the Handbook entry

Undergraduate Subjects
Semester 2

China Since Mao (CHIN20008)
Dr Sow Keat Tok
This subject examines cultural and social tendencies in contemporary China, and shows how they have developed from the socialist system. It analyses the culture of China's different social groups - men, women, young people, workers, farmers, the elites, minorities, intellectuals and business people. It aims to give a sense of the contemporary Chinese cultural landscape and how this has been analysed by scholars.

For further information please see the Handbook entry

Understanding Contemporary China

The Centre provides a focal point for China-related research across The University of Melbourne, and leads an inter-disciplinary program on contemporary Chinese public policy, economics and society.

Our five research themes are:

• Governance and public policy
• Domestic economy
• Agriculture and environment
• Social change and inequality
• Trade and overseas direct investment

The latest publications by Centre staff can be found on our New Staff Publications page.

The Centre also supports the Chinese Studies Research Group

Research briefs are a bimonthly publication from the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies. The Briefs offer analysis of recent developments in China and an introduction to current academic research.

The Research Briefs are distributed to our academic, government and business networks. They are aimed at a general audience with an interest in China, and aim to tell a coherent story about a topic of general interest.

If you are interested in receiving these briefs via e-mail please contact us to be added to the mailing list: china-centre@unimelb.edu.au

Videos

2017 China Symposium

New sources of growth (2): Innovation and technological change
19 July 2017

The China Symposium presents the latest research on the Chinese economy. The 2017 Symposium brings leading scholars and the World Bank's Country Director (China, Mongolia and Korea) together to discuss China's next transformation: How us China managing its economic transition through institutional reform, innovation and technological change? What fiscal and financial risks does the economy face? Is regional inequality being addressed?

Panel 1: Update on China’s macroenconomic status
Chair: Professor Ross Garnaut AC, University of Melbourne
Bert Hofman, The World Bank, China’s next transformation
Professor Wing Thye Woo, University of California, Davis, Managing the economic slowdown during the transition to the new path of sustainable development
Professor Yiping Huang, Peking University, Innovations in the financial sector
Professor Christine Wong, University of Melbourne, Protecting against fiscal risks
Professor Yao Yang, Peking University and University of Melbourne Asia Scholar, Regional convergence of the economy

Panel 2: Innovation and Technological Change
Chair: Professor Ligang Song, Australian National University
Professor Xiaobo Zhang, Peking University, China's transition to a more innovative economy
Dr Kejun Jiang, Energy Research Institute, Technological progress in developing renewable energies

Watch the recording (2 hours)

2017 Contemporary China Seminar Series

Semester 2

Associate Professor Yan Tan, University of Adelaide

Climate change and migration in China: New evidence from the Yangtze River Delta and Western China
19 October 2017

Recent comprehensive studies assert that climate change will have an increasing impact on human migration patterns over subsequent decades. While there has been growing consensus that the way to move forward is through targeted, theoretically informed cases studies in ‘hotspots’ where the impact of climate change is estimated to be distinct, this research is only in its early stages. Professor Tan seeks to uncover the effects changing climate has on migration and adaptation strategies, decisions and patterns of movement within the context of China’s current socio-economic development and the challenges in tackling climate change. There is a lack of empirical evidence in the literature addressing how climate change (including climate variability and extremes) impacts on migration decision-making and patterns of movement in rural and urban settings and at the household level. This study aims to unravel the climate change and migration nexus by focussing on two hotspots in China, the Yangtze River Delta and the ecologically vulnerable areas of western China. In these two hotspots the complex relationships between climate (environmental) change, mobility and development are examined, the likely effects of climate variability on both past (spanning 5 years) and future migration (decisions and patterns) modelled, and the policy implications for migration, adaptation, and development investigated.

Watch the recording (90 minutes)

Professor Klaus Larres, University of North Carolina

The dawning of a new global order? Germany and China in the Trump Era
5 October 2017

It has become apparent during the last few months that the unexpected election of Donald Trump has left a vacuum in global affairs. China is attempting to fill this vacuum while Germany is being pushed to become more active in international affairs. This seminar considers the global consequences of Trump's foreign policy and analyses the complex relationship between Germany and China in the political and economic realm to cope with a rapidly changing world.

Watch the recording (90 minutes)

Dr Matthew Currell, RMIT University

The global drain: China's groundwater pollution problems and why they should matter to the rest of the world
14 September 2017

Recent nation-wide surveys of water quality in China have revealed a crisis in the extent and severity of groundwater pollution throughout China's aquifers, in both urban and agricultural regions. Hundreds of millions of Chinese people depend on groundwater for drinking water and their livelihoods, and many are suffering adverse health effects from pollution, as is evident with the emergence of 'Cancer Villages'. This seminar outlines the major sources and mechanisms of groundwater pollution in China, explores links between pollution, trade and the global economy - including China's emergence as the world's manufacturing powerhouse - and analyses the Chinese government's recent policy response to the crisis, including the development of the 'Water 10 Plan' in 2015.

Watch the recording (90 minutes)

Download Dr Matthew Currell's presentation slides

Associate Professor Fran Martin, University of Melbourne

WeChat therefore we are: Everyday multicultures, translocality and Chinese social media in inner Melbourne
15 August 2017
From February through to April 2016, the community of Chinese students studying and living in Melbourne’s northern CBD and Carlton area was rocked by a prolonged spate of mobile phone thefts that popular WeChat news accounts persistently framed as ethnically targeted attacks on Chinese people by ‘African gangs’ ignored by Australian police. This seminar considers the research participants’ complex range of responses to these incidents, alongside the highly sensationalised and openly racialised reportage of them on WeChat news accounts (the students’ principal source of local news).

Watch the recording (90 minutes)

Dr Pradeep Taneja, University of Melbourne

Belt and Road initiative and the China-India-Pakistan Triangle
3 August 2017

Despite claims by Chinese officials that Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is not political, it is inevitable that the purportedly more than one trillion dollar program of infrastructure construction and multiple connectivity corridors will have significant geopolitical and security implications; some intended and others unforeseen. India has declined to be a part of BRI, and it turned down the invitation to attend the much-hyped BRI Forum in Beijing last May. This seminar examines the Indian government’s reservations about the initiative and the impact of CPEC on India-Pakistan relations.

Watch the recording (90 minutes)

Semester 1

Dr Britt Crow-Miller, Arizona State University

Politics and discourse in China's South-North Water Transfer Project
1 June 2017

Despite significant financial, ecological and social trade-offs, the Chinese government has moved forward with constructing and operationalizing the world’s largest interbasin water transfer project to date, the South-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP). While it is fundamentally linked to broader political-economic goals within the context of China’s development agenda, the SNWTP is frequently discussed in apolitical terms. Based on extensive discourse analysis and interviews with government officials across North China, I argue that the Chinese government is using "discourses of deflection" to present the project as politically neutral in order to serve its ultimate goal of maintaining the high economic growth rates that underpin its continued legitimacy.

Watch the recording (90 minutes)

Professor Mark Wang, University of Melbourne

Relocation for poverty alleviation? How will Xi Jinping's 'Precise Poverty Alleviation' strategy affect China's poverty resettlement program?
25 May 2017

China’s success in poverty alleviation in the last two decades has attracted worldwide attention, resulting in 800 million people being lifted out of poverty since 1978. The Poverty Alleviation Resettlement (PAR) program has been physically relocating poor rural villagers away from highly impoverished and/or ecologically degraded areas. It has been used as one of the key poverty reduction initiatives. Through this state-led resettlement program, the government aims to improve the living standards and access to infrastructure and services of the rural poor by moving them to more developed areas.

Watch the recording (90 minutes)

Professor Martin K Whyte
Harvard University and University of Melbourne Asia Scholar

Global popular anger against rising inequality: Why is China an exception?
27 April 2017

What is the evidence that ordinary Chinese citizens are not particularly, or increasingly, angry about rising income gaps? Why is China an exception to this growing global pattern, and what might make Chinese citizens more angry in the future about the income gaps in their society? Should Chinese leaders nonetheless worry about the prospect that rising popular anger may eventually threaten their rule?

Watch the recording (90 minutes)

Dr Lauren Johnston, University of Melbourne

China in Africa: What is OBOR and why is the Indian Ocean in focus?
6 April 2017

Three years since the launch of China's flagship outbound investment strategy, One Belt One Road (OBOR), many are left uncertain - what is OBOR and what exactly is China trying to achieve? Based on study of trade-related potential for win-win development between China and Africa countries, Dr Lauren Johnston explains economic push factors underlying China’s outbound investment agenda, and the attractiveness of selective ‘Belt’ countries in Africa. Arguing that the timeliness of OBOR investments for particular African economies could help underlie sustained economic development, she adds a call for Australia, the only OECD member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), to grasp related new challenges and opportunity.

Watch the recording (90 minutes)

Professor Hans Hendrischke, University of Sydney

The sustainability of Chinese investment in Australia
16 March 2017

Based on analysis of the trajectories of Chinese ODI in Australia over the past decade Professor Hendrischke will discuss the strategic and economic fundamentals and depoliticise the foreign investment debate. He concludes that the regulatory regime needs clarity and transparency as well as the right of government to make strategic decisions.

Watch the recording (90 minutes)

Professor Minxin Pei, Claremont McKenna College

The origins and dynamics of crony capitalism in China: insights from prosecuted cases of collusive corruption
23 March 2017

By examining the evolution of Chinese economic and political institutions since the early 1990s, we can trace the emergence of crony capitalism to two critical changes in the control of property rights of the assets owned by the state and the personnel management of the officials the ruling Communist Party. Consequently, local political and business elites gain greater incentives and opportunities to collude with each other in looting the assets nominally owned by the state.

Watch the recording (90 minutes)