AsianScientist (Apr. 8, 2013) – The University of Melbourne officially opened on Wednesday The Center for Contemporary Chinese Studies to focus on research into contemporary issues in China, as well as graduate training and broader engagement with external, China-facing stakeholders.
The Center was launched by the University’s Chancellor, Ms Elizabeth Alexander AM.
Based within the Asia Institute of the Faculty of Arts, the inaugural Director of the Center, Professor Christine Wong, said the Center would be a point of difference in Chinese studies in Australian academia.
“This Center will take a keen interest in issues facing contemporary China which is going through a rapid process of restructuring and modernization. We will look at various facets of the country and its modern-day relationship with Australia, be it political, social, economic, or cultural,” she said.
Professor Wong, a leading international authority on China’s public finance and public sector reform, will join the Center on November 1 from her post as Director of Chinese Studies at the University of Oxford.
Acting Director of the Center and Assistant Dean (China) of the Faculty of Arts, Dr. Gao Jia, said Professor Wong’s appointment was an exciting announcement.
“Her knowledge of how the Chinese economy is presently organized and managed at a local government level as well as the ins and outs of China’s economic reforms and path to privatization is exactly the kind of expertise being championed as ‘required’ by the Asian Century White Paper,” he said.
The Center will hold its first public event today in the Sidney Myer Asia Center. The first Melbourne China Forum, “Is China At A Turning Point?” will feature Professor Christine Wong, Professor Ross Garnaut AO (Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Melbourne), and Mr Murray McLean AO (former Ambassador to Japan and Chair, Australia Japan Foundation).
——
Source: University of Melbourne; Photo: IceNineJon/Flickr/CC.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
