Dr Qingfei Yin

Dr Qingfei Yin is Associate Professor of International History (China and the World) at LSE. As a historian of contemporary China and inter-Asian relations, her research focuses on China’s relations with its Asian neighbours and the Cold War in Asia. She is particularly interested in how the global Cold War interacted with state-building projects in Asia. Her first book State Building in Cold War Asia: Comrades and Competitors on the Sino-Vietnamese Border (Cambridge University Press, 2024) weaves together international, national, and transnational-local histories to present a new approach to the highly volatile Sino-Vietnamese relations, centring on the two modernising revolutionary powers' competitive and collaborative state building on the borderlands and local responses to it. She is currently working on two book projects, on Chinese seamen during the Cold War (single author) and the development of China’s ocean shipping during Mao’s era (co-author), respectively. Her research has been funded by the Association for Asian Studies China and Inner Asia Council and the Henry Luce Foundation/ACLS Program in China Studies.

Qingfei is an alumna of the LSE-Peking University Double MSc in International Affairs Programme. She studied International Politics and History at Peking University for her undergraduate degrees and completed her PhD in History at George Washington University. Before returning to LSE, she was Assistant Professor of History at Virginia Military Institute. She also serves as the Book Review Editor of Journal of Military History and on the Editorial Board of .

Qingfei is a passionate scholar-teacher. She has been nominated for the LSESU Teaching Awards multiple times. In 2024, she is among the recipients of LSE Excellence in Education Award.

Other titles: Chair of Undergraduate Examinations & USBE Representative

Expertise

Cold War, China, Vietnam, China-Southeast Asia Relations, Borderlands, Maritime Labour, Commercial Shipping