LSE-Fudan Annual Conference

Conference Theme

The theme of this year’s conference was "Rethinking Global Public Policy:Actors, Mechanisms, and Performance."

The post-pandemic world faces more serious and urgent challenges to effective and resilient global governance of issues affected by global public interest. Traditional policy problems such as global warming and climate change, poverty alleviation and international development, social and industrial transitions, public service provision, health, economic openness, and security have encountered increased difficulties due to economic slowdown and enlarged economic inequality. Simultaneously, new challenges such as AI, biosecurity, and aging populations still lack basic mechanisms of global cooperation and collaboration.

Amidst these trends, the actors in the landscape of global public policy have experienced significant changes in their structure, values, goals, mutual relations, strategies, and courses of action. The tools and mechanisms available to global actors have also been shifting in their legitimacy and effectiveness due to evolving technical and institutional contexts.

Conference Theme

In 2023 China and the world are recovering from the impact of Covid on the economy and society. Policymakers in China are facing a host of challenges and priorities: healthcare, social welfare, the environment, innovation and technology and the need to balance these with economic growth.

Rapid and consistent economic development has lifted millions out of poverty; the government is likely to continue its efforts to reduce inequality and provide support for vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and disabled.

With an aging population and rising healthcare costs, China's healthcare system is under pressure. The country is also facing some environmental challenges, including air and water pollution, deforestation, and desertification. In addition, China is aspiring to become a global leader in innovation and technology but needs to continue investing in research and development to maintain its competitive edge.

Keynote speakers

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  Dr. Keyu Jin is an associate professor of Economics (with tenure) at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is from Beijing, China and holds a B.A., M.A. and Phd from Harvard University. Her research focuses on international macroeconomics and trade, and the Chinese economy, exploring questions such as technological competition between China and the rest of the world, what governments' optimal policies should be in the context of China's rapid growth and technological advancement, capital flows between China and the rest of the world, and the role of demographics. Her work also includes the international transmission of U.S. monetary and fiscal policy, and how it has changed over time. She is the author of The New China Playbook: beyond Socialism and Capitalism, which was a Financial Times Must Read of 2023. Her op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and many more.

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  Prof. Shiping Tang is one of Asia’s most influential and innovative social scientists. In 2024, he will be honored as one of the three Distinguished Scholars at the Global IR Section (GIRS) at the ISA Convention in San Francisco, along with Barry Buzan and Cristina Rojas.

  Prof. Tang holds the position of Fudan Distinguished Professor and Dr. Seaker Chan Chair Professor at, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. He also holds a "Chang-Jiang/Cheung Kong Scholar" Distinguished Professorship from the Chinese Ministry of Education, the highest honor a social scientist can hold in China.

  Prof. Tang has a very broad research interest and has published widely, covering international relations, comparative politics, institutional economics, methodology, philosophy of the social sciences, political theory and sociology. He has also developed powerful platforms for complex decision making based Computational Social Sciences (CSS).

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  Dr. Yan Xiaojun is currently an associate professor in politics and public administration and Director of the Research Hub on Institutions of China at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). He obtained his Bachelor and Master of Law degrees from Peking University and an A.M. and Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University. He is a comparative political scientist with special expertise in the politics of China. Dr. Yan is the author of three books and co-editor of one edited volume. His articles have appeared in a dozen of leading international academic journals. Dr. Yan is recipient of the 2012 Gordon White Prize by The China Quarterly for his research on new entrepreneurial Party secretaries in rural China. His first book on Hong Kong politics is selected as one of the "Ten Best Chinese Books (non-fiction) Published in 2015" by Asia Weekly. He is recipient of HKU’s Outstanding Teaching Award (2013). Dr. Yan is a member of the Board of Directors of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.

Conference Programme

Dates: 21 & 22 November 2023

Time: 21 November at 10:00 -18:00 and 22 November at 10:00 - 14:00

Venue: Shaw Library, Old Building, Houghton St, London WC2B 4RR