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Commemorating five years of friendship

| By Sarah Pfledderer | GPS News

Backdropped by the Pacific Ocean that separates China and the U.S., representatives from UC San Diego and Fudan University came together where the body of water meets California, ironically, for glimpses into the rural charm of China’s Sichuan Province.

The gathering at the top of Villages West — a UC San Diego high-rise with a coastal view — was for the opening of a traveling photo exhibit from Fudan University, “A Beautiful China,” as well as an homage to what anchors bilateral relations between the two institutions: the Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China. Read more.

UC San Diego Library Initiates New Partnerships with Chinese & German University Libraries

| By Dolores Davies | UC San Diego News

The University of California San Diego Library has embarked on new international agreements with two academic libraries— Fudan University Library in Shanghai, China and the Göttingen State and University Library in Germany.

“Sharing knowledge, expertise, and collections with our library counterparts in Asia and Europe benefits our respective scholarly communities in diverse ways,” said Brian E. C. Schottlaender, The Audrey Geisel University Librarian at UC San Diego. “I greatly appreciate the interest and cooperation of my colleagues at Fudan University Library and Göttingen State and University Library in bringing these agreements to fruition. We look forward to the positive and productive collaborations ahead.” Read more.

UC San Diego China Partnerships: Looking Back, Looking Forward

Nov. 16, 2016 | GPS News Storify Article

The 21st Century China Center at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy travelled back in time to 1979, screening a short film from the university’s first official visit to China. Scroll through the evolution of UC San Diego's partnerships in China, as told at the Nov. 1 event. Read more.

Accompanying the UC San Diego chancellor to Shanghai

April 15, 2016 | GPS News Storify Article

When UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla travelled to Shanghai in April 2016, he came with a small, yet very intellectual entourage: UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) Dean Peter Cowhey and GPS's 21st Century China Program Chair Susan Shirk. Here, we track their whereabouts. Read more.

2016 Young Scholar Conference hits on social sciences

The Fudan-UC Center hosted its third annual Young Scholars Conference on “Social Sciences and China Studies”

 | By Ann Listerud, 2016 MIA candidate | GPS News

In a San Diego conference room with a view over the Pacific Ocean, students and professors met for the Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China’s third annual Young Scholars Conference from May 20-21. This year’s conference, themed “Social Sciences and China Studies,” gathered Chinese social science experts from institutions across China and the U.S. to present their current research and share and exchange ideas. Read more.

Xian Xu sets sights high for Fudan-UC Center

Meet the new managing associate director with visions of bolstering collaborations across UC and making new research connections

 | By Sarah Pfledderer | GPS News

Xian Xu
Though Xian Xu has been settled into the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) since October, the new managing associate director of the Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China is feeling the “pressure.”

“I feel quite a lot of pressure,” said Xu, former assistant dean of the School of Economics at Fudan University in Shanghai. “This is the first Chinese university to go abroad and have a joint research center with a leading foreign university. Because it’s the first one and the first try—not only for Fudan University, but also for the Chinese government—they pay a lot of attention to our Center.”

However, there’s no safer bet than Xu to help lead the Center over the next two years—his research focuses on risk management and insurance, after all.

Under the directorship of Professor Richard Madsen, the Fudan-UC Center forges ties between UC and Fudan University. It brings together leading research scholars from both universities for conferences and lectures and facilitates cooperative research to promote deeper mutual understanding between the U.S. and China.

“Within these next two years, we must do something good for Fudan University and University of California but also do something meaningful for the U.S.-China relationship,” Xu said.

As part of that effort, he hopes to amplify the Center’s agenda beyond just UC San Diego. This means upscaling its cooperation across all 10 campuses of the UC system as well as organizing new workshops, conferences and stronger means to connect UC scholars with those at Fudan University.

“Fudan University regards the Fudan-UC Center as the ultimate think tank,” Xu explained. “This is very good for us (Fudan) to be here and help people understand both sides of the U.S.-China relationship.”

In bolstering UC and Fudan’s understanding of U.S.-China relations, Xu also hopes the Center can engage in policymaking dialogues on government levels in China and the U.S.

He’ll leverage his own think tank experience to do so.

In addition to his obligations at the Fudan-UC Center, Xu also has ongoing involvements at Fudan University as director of the China Insurance and Social Security Research Center, deputy secretary general at the Shanghai Institute for Free Trade Zone Research and assistant director of the Financial Research Center. Outside of the university, he also is an executive council member of the Insurance Society of China, a senior member of the Accounting Society of China and a research associate at the Centre for European Economic Research in Germany. Such commitments have led him in the past to lend advice to the Chinese and Shanghai governments’ bank and insurance regulations committee, among other areas.

Backing up his experience in the insurance sector is a yearlong stint at Allianz and eight years of higher education in Germany—a Master of Arts in International Economics from Georg August University Göttingen, a Master of Laws from Osnabrück University, and Ph.D., in economics from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Now, it’s this insurance expertise—and a growing one in disaster economics—that Xu also lends to Fudan University students. And it’s also one he hopes to continue honing and offering to scholars at GPS.

“I’m open for a lot of collaboration,” Xu said. “If GPS students are interested in China or insurance—not only how to measure insurance, but also about disaster relief and management—they should contact me. … I’m hoping to connect with UC scholars or students who also are interested in this field so we can co-research together.”

Xu can be reached at xianxu@ucsd.edu.

Accompanying the UC San Diego chancellor to Shanghai

When UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla travelled to Shanghai in April 2016, he came with a small, yet very intellectual entourage: UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) Dean Peter Cowhey and GPS's 21st Century China Program Chair Susan Shirk. Here, we track their whereabouts. Read more.

First California-Shanghai Innovation Dialogue strengthens collaboration

Feb. 27, 2015 | By Anthony King | GPS NewsCali-Shanghi group

For its inaugural forum, the California-Shanghai Innovation Dialogue gathered high-level business, political and academic leaders from California and Shanghai at UC San Diego Feb. 5 – 6 for influential conversations on topics crucial to the development of both regions.

Participants explored growth opportunities in light of each region’s innovation ecosystem alongside their distinct — and parallel — challenges.

UC San Diego and Fudan University cosponsored the two-day conference, with the next dialogue scheduled to take place in Shanghai. Over 45 speakers and panelists participated, including School of International Relations and Pacific Studies Dean Peter Cowhey, Fudan University Vice President Jin Li and Qualcomm, Inc. co-founder Irwin Jacobs.

“Both UC San Diego and Fudan University are defining the future of innovation,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla during opening-day remarks. “Through the California-Shanghai Innovation Dialogue, we are exploring new prospects for collaboration and strengthening our ties so we can remain leading contributors to our regions.”

California and Shanghai stand as leading regional innovation hubs, with each delivering strong value to their national economies. Importantly, both share concentrations of high-tech industries that face similar challenges, such as the optimal uptake of information technology and the rising demand for environmental innovation.

This year’s dialogue centered on three aspects of the California-Shanghai relationship: innovation ecosystems, common innovation challenges and solutions, and lessons of entrepreneurship. Key supporters of the conference were the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and the Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China, the first overseas academic institution established by a major Chinese university. Based at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, the Fudan-UC Center connects Fudan University with the entire University of California system.

“The Fudan-UC Center is a particularly important bridge between our two countries and our two communities,” said Susan Shirk, chair of the 21st Century China Program. “Science and innovation are important as a human connector between our two countries, in which we are together producing new knowledge and improving human welfare.”

For complete information on the inaugural California-Shanghai Innovation Dialogue — including each day’s agenda and participant bios, as well as the full program — visit the designated conference webpage. View photos from the event.

上海加州联手创新,对话合作跨越太平洋 (Chinese)

Feb. 16, 2015 | 来源:发展研究院发布时间:2015-02-16

由复旦大学与加州大学圣地亚哥校区(UCSD)共同主办的上海-加州创新对话(California-Shanghai Innovation Dialogue)于2月5日至6日在UCSD举行。复旦大学党委副书记刘承功在开幕式上致辞,中国科学院院士金力教授在主题为“上海与加州如何创新”的开放板块中,发表公开演讲。Read more.

Increasing Innovation and Collaboration

Feb. 6, 2015 | UC San Diego Office of the Chancellor Blog

UC San Diego, in partnership with Fudan University in China, hosted the inaugural meeting of the California-Shanghai Innovation Dialogue yesterday on campus.  The dialogue was an important first step to comparing how these two regions are leading players in their domestic economies and exploring prospects for innovation.  Speakers and panelists included distinguished leaders from both regions, including Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs and Fudan University Vice Presidents Li Jin and Chenggong Liu. The dialogue was co-organized at UC San Diego by the Institute of Global Conflict and Cooperation, the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, and the Jacobs School of Engineering. Read more.

Annual report highlights cooperative research

Sept. 16, 2014 | By Anthony King | GPS News

Fudan Annual Report

The Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China released its annual report for the 2013 – 2014 academic year, with a special emphasis on supporting multi-institution, up-and-coming research.

"The Fudan-UC Center has developed into an invaluable asset for teaching and research on both of our universities. It has given us the benefit of a large array of public lectures and conferences with distinguished experts on both sides of the Pacific,” said Director Richard Madsen. “The Center has also fostered a rich network of informal relationships between Fudan and UC faculty and administrators, relationships that will pave the way for exciting collaborative research initiatives in the future.”

As the first academic institution established by a major Chinese university in cooperation with one in the United States, the center connects all 10 campuses of the University of California system with Shanghai’s Fudan University. Housed at UC San Diego’s School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, the center brings together leading research scholars from both universities for cooperative research.

“Especially useful and rewarding has been the young scholars conference that presented an opportunity for our best graduate students to share their work and receive constructive criticism from peers and mentors alike,” Madsen said. The young scholars conference was held May 19 – 20.

The report lists each of Fudan-UC’s academic events, public events and research workshops, totaling over 35. Dimitar Gueorguiev, now a professor at Syracuse University, received his Ph.D. from UC San Diego in 2014 and regularly participated in the Center’s workshop program. He said he hoped to reproduce similar workshops in his new position.

“The workshops are open to all people interested in China studies,” said Lizhu Fan, Fudan-UC Center managing associate director and Fudan University professor of sociology. “It provides an ideal platform for young scholars looking to gain academic peer-review experience.”

Additional highlights from the year include a visit by Fudan University Vice President Feng Xiaoyuan in May. A well-recognized radiologist and chair of the Radiology Department of Huashan Hospital at Fudan University, Feng and senior members of his administration met with faculty and alumni at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and bioengineering department at the Jacobs School of Engineering.

Download the complete annual report.

New research discussed at cross-Pacific conference

Aug. 29, 2014 | By Anthony King | GPS News

The Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China and 21st Century China Program held a two-day conference at UC San Diego, highlighting up-and-coming research on politics, protest and control in China. Called “Stability Maintenance and the Chinese State’s Response to Social Conflict,” the conference included several working papers from the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies and affiliated faculty, highlighting deep multi-institutional collaborations key to the two research centers.

Stability ConferenceFudan-UC Center Director Richard Madsen opened the conference, welcoming scholars from across the University of California system — UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Santa Cruz — as well as researchers from around the globe.

“The mission of the Fudan Center is really as facilitator of research by scholars from China and the United States, and the mission of the 21st Century China Program is to show how scholars studying China are connected with policy on both sides of the Pacific,” Madsen said. “An academic conference like this is a way to carry out both these missions.”

Additionally, researchers from Fudan University, Peking University, Taiwan’s Academia Sinica, City University of Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, University of Toronto, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of Pennsylvania presented their work.

The conference included five separate topical panels, ranging from “People’s Politics, Grassroots State and Stability Maintenance” to “Technologies of Control.” Each scholar gave an overview of their work, followed by the group’s discussion, questions and suggestions for further study.

21st Century China Program Chair Susan Shirk attended afternoon panel discussions on the first day, where the program’s director and San Diego State University professor Lei Guang presented “Collective Petitions and Local State Responses in China.” Lizhu Fan, Fudan-UC Center managing associate director and sociology professor at Fudan University, presented her coauthored work, “Adaptation and Conflict: Religion and Rural-Urban Migration.” IR/PS professor Tai Ming Cheung served as chair.

The following day, professors Ruixue Jia and Victor Shih participated in two separate panels; Jia presenting her “Ethnicities of Children in Mixed Marriages” and Shih chairing a discussion on “Technologies of Control.”

“This is my first time attending a workshop comprised of political scientists and sociologists,” Jia said. Jia is an assistant professor of economics at IR/PS, receiving her Ph.D. from the Institute for International Economic Studies at Stockholm University. “It’s interesting to me to discover so much about different methodologies. I have learned a lot.”

Molly Roberts, a UC San Diego Department of Political Science professor and 21st Century China Program scholar, closed the conference with her paper “How Censorship Slows the Spread of Information in the Digital Age.” Roberts’ highly anticipated coauthored work, “Reverse-engineering censorship in China,” was published in Science magazine earlier in the week, and conference attendees congratulated her on the accomplis>

Fudan-UC Center supports research at first young scholars conference

June 26, 2014 | By Anthony King | GPS News

Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China hosted a group of students from Fudan University and four University of California (UC) campuses for a two-day conference, May 19 - 20. Called "Social Power in China," the young scholars workshop was cosponsored by the 21st Century China Program.

This first-of-its-kind academic conference provided a platform for young scholars to present their own research on contemporary Chinese society, politics and economy, as well as exchange ideas and network with others. The overall purpose of this and future conferences is to build synergies and develop collaboration among the 10 UC campuses and Fudan University, promoting a deeper mutual understanding between the United States and China.

Photos from the conference"We have institutionalized the relationship between Fudan and UC, and we have started to get to know each other in what is a kind of an 'intellectual mixer,'" said Susan Shirk, Fudan-UC academic council co-chair and chair of the 21st Century China Program. Both China research centers are housed at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, UC San Diego.

"I am very excited about the new beginnings that we've created here and also very impressed by the quality of work that has been presented," Shirk said. "Thanks to the Fudan-UC Center, it is possible for the Fudan scholars to continue to visit both UC San Diego as well as other campuses where we have social scientists working on China."

In addition to Fudan University, participating scholars attended from UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley and UCLA. Research discussed included "Contested Social Work: Service-Provision NGOs as Agents of Change in Urban China" by Ling Han of UC San Diego, "Severity of Criminal Punishment and Political Culture in China" by William James Welsh of UC Berkeley, and "Struggle for a Return: Civil Society as Ideal and Career" by Nick Bartlett of UCLA, among others.

During the conference, each young scholar presented their research to the group, followed by prepared comments from a designated student. They then received questions and comments from both their contemporaries as well as established scholars, including Shirk, 21st Century China Program Director Lei Guang, and IR/PS professors Barry Naughton, Victor Shih and Richard Madsen, who serves as director of the Fudan-UC Center.

"I'm really hopeful that a few of these acquaintanceships might lead to future collaborations," Shirk said in closing, asking for continual feedback on how to make the next young scholars conference stronger. "And of course there are lots of other social scientists in the UC system and at Fudan who haven't had the opportunity to be included. We are hoping to repeat this young scholars workshop in the future."

Read the complete "Social Power in China" conference agenda (PDF) and view photos from the two days.

University of California and Fudan University Mark Groundbreaking International Partnership

Fudan Campus

April 11, 2013 | By Christine Clark

As the first academic institution established by a major Chinese university in cooperation with a leading U.S. university, the Fudan-UC Center has paved the way for contemporary China studies and a deeper mutual understanding between the United States and China.

The center, which opened its doors on the campus of UC San Diego in fall 2012, connects all ten campuses of the University of California system with Fudan University in Shanghai and brings together leading research scholars from both universities for conferences, lectures and collaborative research.

In celebration of this groundbreaking international effort, Yang Yu-liang, president of Fudan University, and several senior members of the administration visited the UC San Diego campus last week where they explored the campus, interacted with scholars and met with UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla.   

Read more.

University of California Partners with Fudan University to Establish Center on China

Fudan Campus

July 09, 2012 | By Christine Clark
 

The new center will focus on China studies and will be located on the campus of UC San Diego.

Fudan University in Shanghai, China is partnering with the University of California to establish a Fudan-UC center to foster academic exchange and collaborative research on China. The center, a first-of-its-kind internationalization initiative made by a major Chinese university, will be located on the campus of the University of California, San Diego, hosted by the campus’ School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS).  

“This center will provide superb opportunities for students in Chinese studies at the University of California,” said UC President Mark G. Yudof. “Besides the many long-term benefits for faculty, students and researchers across the UC system, it will cement our relationship with one of the University’s most valuable partners in China.”  

Read more.