The China Policy Institute (CPI) at The University of Nottingham has a new home and a new leadership team.

As of Monday 1 August 2016, the CPI will be housed within the University’s School of Politics and International Relations, led by the newly appointed Director, Dr Jonathan Sullivan.

This latest development is part of the University’s ongoing commitment to fostering expertise and strengthening links with China. The team at the CPI will be responsible for connecting China focused activity across all of its campuses – particularly in relation to research and impact.

Expanding its remit

In its new home, the CPI will deliver a program of external engagement activities to help generate self-sustaining funding as well as expand capacity, productivity and presence both in the UK and overseas.

Dr Sullivan said: “The China Policy Institute has a remit to drive external engagement and research-led impact for all staff working on China at the University, and we will work with all units and individuals in pursuit of this goal.

“It goes without saying that China is a very important country, and UK-China relations are of huge economic and political significance. Having emerged as a global economic and political power, and through its intense global engagement, China is a global power in that its policies and actions affect the entire world.

“The China Policy Institute’s mission is to promote understanding about China among business, government and civil society, so that our interactions, policies and planning with regard to China are based on informed, nuanced and supported by evidence rather than opinion.

“As the new Director of the China policy institute I look forward to working with the many colleagues across the University and with the many stakeholders outside who share one thing in common: An acknowledgement of China’s importance and a commitment for understanding what it means and how to adjust.”

A new Chair

As well as its new leader, Dr Sullivan will be joined by Deputy Director Chun-yi Lee, to work alongside an advisory board of external China professionals led by a new Chair, Graham Hutchings from Oxford Analytics. Much of Graham’s professional life has involved research, writing and public speaking about China.

Graham said on his appointment: “There has never been a greater need for expertise, insight, understanding and straightforward policy advice on China than at the present time. The country’s global standing is immense and growing; it has implications for almost every aspect of international life, from diplomacy to finance, culture to commerce, the rule of law to curbing the effects of climate change.

“The CPI at Nottingham is well placed to provide the authoritative and impartial expertise needed to engage with China successfully in a wide variety of areas. The CPI’s network of Nottingham- and internationally-based China scholars, reinforced by an Advisory Board of consisting of China professionals, constitutes a deep pool of intellectual capital.

“An immensely valuable resource for the private and the public sector, the CPI also promises to make a major contribution to the University’s goal of increasing its impact and reach in society.”

Professor Todd Landman, Pro-Vice Chancellor Faculty of Social Sciences at the University said: “The CPI occupies a central place in the Faculty of Social Sciences and the School of Politics and International Relations at our global University. Now more than ever, the world is asking for multi and inter-disciplinary knowledge, commentary, and capacity focussed on the many facets of modern China.

“The CPI has a well established reputation for evidence-based objective analysis of China and has well developed networks of scholars and practitioners working on a wide range of issues within and related to China. I am delighted and confident that the new leadership, governance, and advisory arrangements for the CPI will provide the foundation for its successful future development.”