On 20 November 2025, the Association of Chinese Political Studies (ACPS), in collaboration with King’s College London, convened its 37th annual meeting and international symposium. Bringing together scholars, practitioners, and students from around the world, the conference offered a platform for in-depth discussion of contemporary developments in Chinese politics. This year’s theme, “Chinese Politics: Domestic Transformations and Global Aspirations,” reflected the growing complexity of China’s internal governance challenges and its increasingly consequential role on the global stage.
The symposium opened with a keynote address by Professor Kerry Brown, whose remarks provided a wide-ranging overview of China’s evolving political trajectory and the analytical approaches needed to understand it. His lecture set the tone for a day of rigorous scholarly engagement and cross-disciplinary exchange.
Following the keynote, participants presented their research across six thematic panels, each addressing critical dimensions of China’s political landscape. The panels covered: Surveillance, Ideology, and Governance in Xi’s China; Global Norms and Development Alternatives; Strategic Rivalry and Geoeconomic Competition; Foreign Policy Strategies and Relational Diplomacy; Identity, Discourse, and the Construction of China’s Global Role; Industrial Policy and Technological Development.
Together, these panels offered rich empirical insights and generated lively debate among participants. The conference successfully fostered a deeper understanding of the forces shaping China’s domestic evolution and its expanding global footprint, reinforcing ACPS’s role as a leading forum for the study of Chinese politics.
Before the conference was concluded, members attending the business meeting also elected ACPS’ next board of directors: Yumin Sheng as President, Xiaojun Li as President-Elect, Xi Chen as Publicity Director, Xian Huang as Treasurer, Adam Liu as Research Director, Xiaoyu Pu as Newsletter Director, and Zhihang Ruan as Membership Director.
