British Inter-university China Centre: Phase 2

Investment in the British Inter-university China Centre (BICC) remains of vital national importance. We must look ahead strategically and adapt the UK's priorities swiftly and appropriately to address the research and educational demands arising from China's emergence, as what many today are calling "the Chinese century" unfolds. The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office's 2010 strategy document, 'The UK and China: A framework for engagement', stated bluntly that "China's impact on UK interests is already critical, and it is growing." One of the aims it set out for shaping the UK's response was 'equipping the British people to seize the China opportunity through better understanding of China and better Chinese language skills', and through 'increased educational and scientific links at institutional level between universities, research bodies, colleges and schools, and a greater two way flow of students, academics and researchers'. The objective of BICC's programme of activity is to inform and contribute to these strategically vital processes.

In BICC the universities of Bristol, Manchester and Oxford combined forces to develop the UK's premier teaching and research facility on China. Each of the three partner institutions has already embarked on a major investment in this area, thus leveraging the long-term impact that the grant will have. In the course of the five years of the grant, BICC has already delivered
1. A range of cutting-edge research projects on strategic topics;
2. An extensive programme for user engagement and the dissemination of research results;
3. A comprehensive network of coordinated teaching programmes on modern and classical Chinese language and all aspects Chinese studies.
This activity continues and continues to deliver significant and internationally important results.

In its second phase, BICC will foreground the building of new knowledge exchange partnerships with non-academic organisations, and the inauguration of new international research networks, in which knowledge exchange activities will be embedded, all of this activity being grounded in language expertise, and supported by a new programme of language training for university and non-university researchers in Chinese studies. Partners who have already committed themselves to hosting student or postdoctoral researcher placements include government (Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Meteorological Office), think-tanks and NGOs in the UK and in China (Chatham House, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, chinadialogue, Beijing Little Bird Center), and large corporations (Penguin Books China, John Swire & Sons). Research network partners include organisations in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, France and the UK, will focus through 9 networks on three overarching themes, 'Borders', 'Cultures of Change', and 'History for the Present', and will involve academic and non-academic participants.

Policy
China remains a key area of growing attention for policy-makers. The culture and history of China, and the history of China-UK relations have been shown to be critical areas of foreign policy interest, and will be addressed through our portfolio of networking and placement partnerships. BICC researchers at the FCO will have a direct impact on policy-making by writing reports for internal circulation and giving a presentation to its in-house seminar series, which involves the MoD, DfID and BIS. The researcher at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development will have a direct impact on a key government policy issue - migration - through their research seminar and working paper. Researchers and students at the Chatham House and chinadialogue think tanks will directly impact public policy debate through presentations and publication. Students and researchers at NGOs will impact activities in China's growing civil society; working with BICC researchers and students will build capacity for transnational policy advocacy in China, and their reports and outreach plan will impact how these issues are addressed in Beijing.

BICC Phase 2's research networks will impact policy as follows. Network co-ordinators will include government offices in planning network activities, and in workshops and conferences. FCO has expressed much interest in historical approaches to UK-China relations, so BICC will include it in the 'Chinese Urban Studies' and 'The Chinese 1950s' networks. BICC will also use research networks to pursue new ties with government and policy-makers: BIS will be invited to participate in the 'Cultures of Consumption' network as China's domestic market will be one of the drivers of the 21st century global economy. The 'Borders of Migration' research network will be of interest to the UNRISD and the FCO. Research produced by the 'Borders of Sexuality and Desire' and 'Borders of Knowledge Politics' networks will impact government departments, think tanks and NGOs that are concerned with human rights issues. These user groups will be involved in planning and execution of network activities.

Science
BICC will work with NGO and scientific partners to apply arts and humanities research to develop capacity in Environmental Change research, an RCUK priority area. The BICC researcher at the Met Office's Hadley Centre for Climate Change Research will build links with Chinese partners. Their exploration of Chinese sources will directly impact scientific understanding of environmental change. The researcher and student at chinadialogue and the 'Environment and Culture' research network will impact the scientific understanding of environmental change by working with officials and NGOs. The 'Environment and Culture' network co-ordinator will organise the activities to extend and enhance her communication and collaboration with the China Environment and Health Initiative, an NGO in Beijing. This research network and chinadialogue will also impact debate about environmental change through publications: internet blogs and the research network's conference volume. The 'Digital China: Heritage, Learning, Research' network work will add to scientific impact by exploring how new technological innovation can support teaching and learning in Chinese studies.

Business
Since China's domestic market will be one of the drivers of the global economy in the 21st century, business needs to exploit the UK's comparative advantage of historical and cultural studies. UK business will benefit from interaction with HEI expertise that can help firms better position themselves to exploit the rich history of Anglo-Chinese cultural relations, and of UK HEI Chinese studies expertise. Researchers placed at Penguin Books China and John Swire & Sons Ltd. will have direct impacts on the way firms use this expertise and historical legacies in their strategies for growth and development in China.