2013 China's Global Course: The Political Economy of China Going Global

Date: 20-21 August 2013

Location: Hunter Council Chamber, Victoria University of Wellington

The economic of China is shaping up as the defining feature of the world economy in the early 21st century. The 2013 Wellington Conference on Contemporary China explores what this means for global patterns of trade, investment, finance and governance of the world economy as well as China’s growing economic impact on individual countries and economies like New Zealand.

A group of leading international scholars and policymakers from China, the US, Australia and the UK will gather in Wellington to examine the trends and emerging patterns of China’s international trade, overseas investment, financial markets, global enterprises and global economic governance.

The conference is to be opened by Minister of Economic Development HON Steven Joyce, followed by keynote speeches from Professor Barry J. Naughton of the University of California and Ms XING Houyuan of the Ministry of Commerce of China.

Key speakers

HON Steven Joyce

Minister for Economic Development, the New Zealand Government

Professor Naughton, Barry J.

Professor of Chinese Economy and Sokwanlok Chair of Chinese International Affairs, University of California, San Diego

Professor Naughton is an authority on the Chinese economy, with an emphasis on issues relating to industry, trade, finance, and China's transition to a market economy. Professor Naughton received his Ph.D. in economics in 1986 and M.A. in international relations in 1979, both from Yale University. His recent research focuses on regional economic growth in the People's Republic of China and the relationship between foreign trade and investment and regional growth. He is also completing a general textbook on the Chinese economy.

Professor Xing Houyuan

Vice President, Vice President, Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce, China

Professor Xing Houyuan is Vice President of CAITEC of MOFCOM, and Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Institute of Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation of CAITEC and Director of Office of Guidance on Investment and Economic Cooperation by Countries/Regions.

Professor Ka Zeng

Professor, Department of Political Science, Director of Asian Studies, University of Arkansas

Professor Ka Zeng is Professor of Political Science and Director of Asian Studies at the University of Arkansas. Her research focuses on China’s role in the international political economy. Dr. Zeng is author of Trade Threats, Trade Wars: Bargaining, Retaliation, and American Coercive Diplomacy.

Dr Wang Hongying

Associate Professor, Political Science University of Waterloo

Dr Hongying Wang is associate professor of political science at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Her research focuses on global governance, Chinese politics, political economy, and foreign policy. She is author of Weak State, Strong Networks: The Institutional Dynamics of Foreign Direct Investment in China.

Professor Zhang Ming

Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Department of International Investment Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Science

Professor Ming Zhang is a senior research fellow and the director of Department of International Investment, Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP) under Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS). His research covers international finance and Chinese macro-economy. In the past several years his interest fields include global financial crisis, foreign exchange reserves, cross-border capital flow, RMB’s exchange rate and internationalization. He has produced several books, over 60 academic papers and numerous articles. Before joining in IWEP, he worked as an auditor in KPMG, and a PE fund manager in Asset Managers Group (Japan). He received his doctor’s degree from the Graduate School of CASS

Dr Golley Jane

Associate Director, Australian Centre on China in the World, Australian National University

Dr Jane Golley is Associate Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World, ANU. After studying economics and Japanese at the ANU, she joined the Asia Section of the Australian Commonwealth Treasury, before spending eight years in Oxford completing her Mphil and Dphil and teaching undergraduate economics. She returned to the ANU in 2003, and has since published research on a wide range of Chinese development issues, including industrial agglomeration and regional policy; urban household consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, demographic change and economic growth; and rural-urban inequalities in education.

Professor Chan, Gerald

Professor of International Relations, University of Auckland

Professor Chan’s research focuses on international relations of China, and China and global governance. He is the author of China Engages Global Governance: A New World Order in the Making (2012) and China's Compliance in Global Affairs. Trade, Arms Control, Environmental Protection, Human Rights (2005).

Professor Tan, Alex

Professor of Political Science, the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Canterbury

Dr Alex Tan is Professor of Political Science at the University of Canterbury. He has published widely in the area of comparative political parties, political economy, and Asian politics.

Dr McNally, Christopher A.

Associate Professor, Political Economy, Chaminade University

Dr Christopher A. McNally is an Associate Professor of Political Economy at Chaminade University and Nonresident Fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu, USA. His research focuses on comparative capitalisms, especially the nature and logic of China’s capitalist transition. He is also working on a research project that studies the implications of China’s international reemergence on the global order. Dr McNally is author of China’s Emergent Political Economy – Capitalism in the Dragon’s Lair

Professor Tu Xinquan

Dean, China Institute for WTO Studies, University of International Business and Economics, China

Professor TU Xinquan is currently Professor and Associate Director of the China Institute for WTO Studies of University of International Business and Economics located in Beijing, China. He got his Ph.D. in international trade from this university in 2004. During 2006-2007, he was a visiting scholar at the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University. In the summer of 2009, he was invited as a visiting fellow by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP). During the summer of 2011, he did his visiting research at WTO Secretariat for three months. His research and teaching focus on Chinese trade policy, WTO, US trade policy, and US-China trade relations.

Dr Liang Wei

Associate Professor, Graduate School of International Policy and Management, Monterey Institute of International Studies

Dr. Wei Liang is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of International Policy and Management at Monterey Institute of International Studies. Prof Liang received her BA from Peking University and M.A. and Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Southern California. Before joining our faculty at MIIS, she had teaching and research appointments at Florida International University, San Francisco State University and Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy (BRIE), UC Berkeley, where she did her postdoctoral research.

Dr Nicholas Khoo

Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics, University of Otago

Dr Khoo specialises in Chinese foreign policy; the international relations of Asia; security studies; international relations theory; and Cold War history. His most recent publication is Asian Security and the Rise of China: International Relations in an Age of Volatility (Elgar 2013).

Dr Yang Liqiang

Associate Professor, Institute of International Economy, Director, Department of China Foreign Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, China

Dr Yang Liqiang received his PhD. in Economics and is associate professor at the Institute of International Economy (IIE), University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), and Director in charge of the Research Department of China Foreign Trade and Economics. Dr Yang’s research interests include international economics, foreign direct investment, multinationals and international economic integration.

Conference programme

The conference presents a theme roundtable and five panels that address key issues and aspects of China's international economic activities and impact:

  • Panel 1: China’s Economic Rise
  • Panel 2: China in World Trade
  • Panel 3: Chinese Investment, Finance and Capital Flows
  • Roundtable: China, the World Economy and New Zealand
  • Panel 4: Chinese International Business and Enterprise
  • Panel 5: China and International Economic Governance