Immigration and the Transformation of Chinese Society
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Social Sciences
Abstract
The growth of mega-cities and more generally rapid urbanization in China not only include hundreds of millions internal migrants, but an increasing number of foreign (including Taiwanese and returning ethnic Chinese) migrants as well. At present, foreign migrants fill relatively small and specific skills and knowledge gaps, but also include marriage migrants, traders, investors, retirees and unskilled workers. However as China's population growth levels off, population ageing sets in. China's working age population is set to decline, slowly at first but increasingly rapidly, especially roughly after 2025. Moreover, the population's sex imbalance will become ever more pronounced and China will face an increasing shortage of marriageable and working age people. Although international migration is set to make an important contribution to these increasing demographic and labour market shortages in China, little research has as yet been done. Our project will provide estimates and projections of the role of international and internal migration on population dynamics in China. The central focus of our project is on the impact of the second demographic transition in China, including family changes, ageing, migration and regional population changes. We will collect vital data on the interaction between labour markets and population dynamics, the consequences of migration, integration policies in China, EU-China mobility, and shifting patterns of inequality and the cultural division of labour. The project therefore speaks directly to the issues under the theme Understanding Population Change of the Europe - China call for collaborative research.
Planned Impact
Our research questions derive directly from current global societal issues. These issues are closely connected to the 'Grand Societal Challenges' as currently determined by the EU in the scope of Horizon 2020, especially the "Inclusive, Innovative and Secure Societies Challenge." Our impact strategy will include stakeholders and activities at the international, European and national level. These include not only government agencies (European, national, local), and international organizations (ILO, IOM), but also trade unions, NGOs and employers both in China and Europe. At the international level, we will cooperate closely with the organizers of the annual international Metropolis conference. The way the conferences are organized give us excellent opportunities to present our research to a large and varied group of stakeholders. In China, we will work closely with the Centre for China and Globalization to involve key stakeholders within the national and local governments and from civil society. At the European level, we will cooperate with a number of Brussels-based organizations, namely Friends of Europe and the Madarigia - College of Europe Foundation, whose excellent reputations and networks in Brussels will help us reach a very wide range of European policy makers, NGOs and other organizations. This project will also be supported by the Jean Monnet Chair grant in EU-China Relations, held by Wei Shen (French co-applicant) with funding of EURO 45,000 from the European Commission. The Jean Monnet Chair will co-sponsor project conferences in France, China and Belgium and use the network of Jean Monnet Professors to disseminate research outcomes. The project will also further benefit from the UACES Collaborative Research Network on EU-China Relations (a joint initiative by ESSCA, College of Europe and Free University of Berlin), for which the French PI is the lead coordinator.
Organisations
- University of Manchester (Lead Research Organisation)
- Guangxi Minzu University, China (Collaboration)
- Shaanxi Normal University (Collaboration)
- Yunnan Nationalities University (Collaboration)
- University of Amsterdam (Collaboration)
- National Taiwan University (Collaboration)
- Jilin University (Collaboration)
- Freie Universität Berlin (Collaboration)
- Leiden University (Project Partner)
Publications
Barabantseva E.
(2021)
Global East Asia. Into the twenty-first century
Grillot C.
(2021)
Apiculteurs, nature et société
Biao
(2020)
"???"?????????"???" «????»27 April 2020.
Grillot Caroline
(2018)
The Routledge Handbook of Asian Borderlands
Xiang B
(2022)
Logistical Power
Grillot Caroline
(2018)
The Routledge Handbook of Asian Borderlands
FNCB-CFDT
(2022)
1934-2022 L' Acte de construire, 88 ans d'histoire de la FNCB
Barabantseva E
(2021)
Global East Asia - Into the Twenty-First Century
Barabantseva, Elena
(2017)
Navigating Marriage Migration from Russia to the People's Republic of China
Delanoë N
(2020)
Casablanca-Hanoi. Une porte dérobée sur des histoires coloniales
Barabantseva E
(2020)
Immigration Governance in East Asia - Norm Diffusion, Politics of Identity, Citizenship
Barabantseva, Elena
(2015)
Governing Marriage Migration: Perspectives from Mainland China and Taiwan
Grillot, C
(2017)
Chinese ENCOUNTERS in Southeast Asia
B Xiang
(2020)
Figures of interpretation
B Xiang
(2020)
Handbook on Transnationalism
Grillot C
(2018)
Revisiting Slavery and Antislavery. Towards a critical analysis
B Xiang
(2019)
Asia Inside Out: Itinerant People
Xiang B
(2015)
Handbook of Chinese Migration - Identity and Wellbeing
| Title | Border People |
| Description | Border People (2018, 14min) offers a glimpse on how customary ethnic relations and official state practices shape the life of Meihua, a Vietnamese Yao woman who crossed the border to marry with a Yao man Fucai in China. The film juxtaposes Meihua's undocumented presence in China with the Yao origin stories and rituals that male elders pass on to the young generation, on the one hand, and the Chinese state's efforts to preserve Yao ethnic traditions amidst its ambitious strategy for border development, on the other. Although Meihua represents the Yao culture as a valuable resource in the border development plans and official celebrations of ethnic diversity, she is denied a legitimate and independent status in China. The film ponders questions of how the state border enters and shapes Meihua's family relations and what it means for her to, quite literally, inhabit the border undergoing great political and economic transformations. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | password: borderpeople18 |
| URL | https://vimeo.com/251570516 |
| Title | Fiction - Essay |
| Description | Together with the historian Nelcya Delanoe (Paris), we are writing a fiction-essay based on our working experiences as researchers. "Casa-Hanoi, la Porte de l'Histoire" (working title) is an account of documentary fiction about improbable encounters in the field, about the serendipity of the research process, and interactions between researchers and the locals. The idea of the book originated in a long correspondence between the two authors that has been taking place since 2006. The story centres around the quest for identity by the main character, a Vietnamese woman who lives in the Sino-Vietnamese borderland. The narrative unfolds around a human adventure that initially happened at the Sino-Vietnamese border and later transformed into new connections between characters from Vietnam, France and Morocco. The book also questions the meaning of History in an individual's life. The manuscript is achieved and we have contacted several editors. Two publishers have expressed their interest. We intend to publish it in 2020. |
| Type Of Art | Creative Writing |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | This fiction may attract the attention of the general public on issues related to post-colonial history, social scientists involvements and people living on the social margins. |
| Description | 1. Chinese Muslims (Hui) Arabic-Chinese interpreters in Yiwu and Guangzhou Biao Xiang (Oxford University) Xiang's project focused on migrant Chinese Muslims who work as Arabic-Chinese translators, business assistants and buying agents for foreign Muslim traders in two trading cities in south China: Guangzhou in Guangdong province and Yiwu in Zhejiang province. The central research question was how do the translator-middlemen reimagine their relations to Islam, to China, and to the global economy and politics? His key finding is that the Chinese Muslims became more religiously pious, but at the same time feel more Chinese. Yet they distance themselves from the traditional "Hui" identity. Main findings • State-invested precarity The social impacts of foreign Muslim traders on China should be examined as part of a peculiar form of globalization. This mode of globalization is characterized by what may be called "state-invested precarity". The precarity in the trade is reinforced by the Chinese government's policy that regulates foreign populations according to narrow economic rationalities. • "I was a Hui yesterday and I am a Muslim today" The arrival of the foreign Muslim traders and the migration of Chinese Muslims middlemen-translators from northwest China have led to a surge of Islam in southeast China. While the "Hui" is a given ethno-religious label that one inherits by birth, "Sinophonic Muslim" is a conscious choice. It is with this global outlook that Islamic theology and a Chinese identity are regarded compatible and even mutually enhancing. • Global imaginary and national solidarity The interaction with the foreign traders itself does not deepen the translators' religious faith. They rarely hold in-depth discussions about religion. Many translators are shocked when they see traders from the Middle East swear, smoke, drink, and visit brothels, despite their superior knowledge about Islam. Some translators feel more "Chinese" because they see the Chinese state as a representative and defender of the globally suppressed populations including Muslims. They applaud the Chinese state for stopping the world from becoming completely subjugated to the West. • Prayer spots and guest mosques Prayer spots (libaidian), often converted from a two- or three-bedroom apartment close to where the translators live (there is a clear geographical concentration of their residence), are the central site of the translator-middlemen's social and religious life. Prayer spots are formal mosques set up or reopened by local government as a way to attract foreign traders in the 2000s. In the translators' eyes, the foreigner traders, the official mosques and the state are of the same category. They are of the same category because they give high visibility and official legitimacy to Islam in southeast China, but are detached from the Chinese Muslims' daily life. 2. Marriage Migration along China's Borders Elena Barabantseva and Caroline Grillot (University of Manchester) Our key findings show that the experiences of marriage migrants in China are shaped by the historical legacies of China's relations with the migrants' countries of origin, China's changing demographic landscape, commodification of the marriage market, entrenched gendered and racialised socio-economic inequalities and the lack of legal protection of foreign migrants' status. 1 Dominant representations of marriage migration. from Vietnam The current official and popular discourses on illegal migration and criminality that have informed public perceptions of marriages of Chinese men with Vietnamese women ignore important historical roots of these phenomena. They also neglect the commodification of marriage arrangements, including coerced marriages as well as customary marriages among highland ethnic groups that live on both sides of the border. Such marriages have become more common due to increased population mobility, increased commercial exchanges across the border and the skewed sex ratio in China. from Russia Chinese-Russian marriages started attracting media attention in the late 1990s and early 2000s and have received an overwhelmingly positive coverage in Chinese official and popular publications. In the late 1990s to early 2000s the majority of couples and families were formed as a result of Chinese migrants (mainly men) going to Russia for education or business. In the 2000s similar opportunities became accessible for Russians (both men and women) in China. The majority of marriages are registered and legalised and frequently feature in Chinese media outlets. The popularity of such marriages in China led to the growth of matchmaking industry on both sides of the border. 2. The regulatory framework of marriage migration. The 2013 Entry and Exit Administration Law introduced "China Family Reunion Visa (Q)." The law precludes foreign spouses legally married to Chinese citizens and living in China on a family visa, from entering the labor market. The law regulates "labor" in a narrow sense of monetary exchange, placing the spheres of family and marriage outside of economic relations and limiting foreign spouses to the position of temporary family visitors. The current regulatory framework around marriage migration is predicated on a clear separation of domestic and public spheres, reserving an exclusively familial role for foreign spouses in China. 3 Marriage and familial norms Chinese policies and public attitudes towards marriages and familial relations have been historically informed by Confucian beliefs, norms and practices and the legacies of socialist experiments (one-child policy, for example). Even if these norms are internally continuously challenged by transformations in the social, cultural, and economic spheres, together with strict administrative and judicial regulations of foreign presence in China, they continue to inform popular attitudes, legislation and policies towards marriages with foreigners in China. 4. Mixed children and citizenship The citizenship of Chinese-foreign children being brought up in China is an area of increased political concern due to their growing numbers, the effects of the household registration system (hukou), nationality and immigration laws, and wider debates on Chinese identity and belonging. Since there is no clear legal route for foreign spouses to naturalise in China, the ambiguity and incompatibility of their citizenship status in China with that of their children is a source of considerable anxiety for many foreign spouses who participated in this study. |
| Exploitation Route | Our findings will be of interest to policy-makers in China where we already presented our findings at the dissemination conference and a close-door round table open to government officials and journalists in July 2019. Journalists from the internationally-renowned outlets expressed interest in our research (for example, the Washington Post, and CNN) |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
| URL | https://www.merics.org/en/china-monitor/china-immigration |
| Description | Elena Barabantseva was approached to provide an expert view on the perception of Ukrainian women in Chinese society by ViCE world news, and her research was acknowledged in the feature 'The Chinese obsession with Ukrainian wives', VICE World News, 4 March 2022, https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kbmva/chinese-obsession-ukrainian-women-russia-invasion Caroline Grillot and Elena Barabantseva were interviewed by Simon Dwyer from the Washington Post for a feature on demographic challenges faced by China. Their research was acknowledged in the article 'Too Many Men' published in April 2018: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/world/too-many-men/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9e52027df1b1 On July 14 2019 Elena Barabantseva (PI) and Xiang Biao (Co-I) took part in a roundtable discussion on 'Global talent management', hosted by Beijing-based think-tank The Center for China and Globalization with participation of representatives from the PRC's media and public offices dealing with immigration. The event also included migration experts from the OECD and the Pew Research Center. A detailed summary of the discussion (in Chinese) is available through the following link: http://www.ccg.org.cn/Event/View.aspx?Id=11323 On July 13 2019 Elena Barabantseva and Andrea Strelcová presented 'Migrants as people: Visa categories and their experiences in China', at a high-profile conference 'Globalized China: 70 Years of Migration and Interaction: the 2019 Conference on Global Migration and Talent Mobility' hosted by the Beijing-based think tank Centre for China and Globalisation. The conference programme (in Chinese) is available through the following link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/kAuiaFH3e2VNT9bHvq_xiA Elena Barabantseva and Xiang Biao contributed to the open access policy analysis (with Frank N. Pieke, Bjorn Ahl, Michaela Pelican, Tabitha Speelman, Wang Feng, Xiang Biao) 'How Immigration is Shaping China', MERICS China Monitor, 27 November 2019, https://www.merics.org/en/china-monitor/china-immigration Xiang's research on alternative narratives about globalisation, which differs from those centred on the imaginaries of top-down supply chains, or of bottom-up networks has generated some interest and was presented at two workshops at Oxford University, and informed his keynote speech at the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research on Mobilities. Xiang followed the measures taken by the local government in Yiwu regarding international migrants during the Covid pandemic in 2020 through the internet. Based on this information and his previous field research, he developed the hypothesis of "the securitization of a mobility". This means that, instead of stopping mobilities altogether during the pandemic, the Chinese government regulates how mobilities take place in order to minimize the possible threat to public health and social order. A Chinese article was published in The Paper, the most widely news and social commentary portal in China. In his inaugural lecture as the Director of Max Planck Institute of Social Anthropology, Xiang drew on materials from his Yiwu field research to demonstrate how ambiguously defined property relations can reduce transaction costs and thus increase efficiency, opposite to the famous transaction cost theory developed by Coase. This observation can be meaningful as this will help us to understand the legal implication of AI and the platform economy. (https://law.mpg.de/engaging-the-network/projects-and-initiatives/china-law-and-society/). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | 'Understanding China' Visiting Scholar Fellowship |
| Amount | ¥10,000 (CNY) |
| Organisation | Confucius Institute |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | China |
| Start | 08/2016 |
| End | 08/2016 |
| Description | Co-applicant for Leverhulme Visiting Professorship for Prof V. Spike Peterson |
| Amount | £51,962 (GBP) |
| Organisation | The Leverhulme Trust |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2016 |
| End | 12/2016 |
| Description | Desiring a beautiful nation: A visual ethnography of the annual international group wedding ceremony on the Chinese-Russian border |
| Amount | £2,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Universities' China Committee in London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Global Convening Programmes |
| Amount | £1,500,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | GCPS2\100002 |
| Organisation | The British Academy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2023 |
| End | 02/2026 |
| Description | Post-doctorate grant |
| Amount | € 7,500 (EUR) |
| Organisation | French School of the Far East (École française d'Extrême-Orient) |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | France |
| Start | 06/2017 |
| End | 10/2017 |
| Title | Life Story Interviews With Russian-Speaking Marriage Migrants in China, 2015-2018 |
| Description | This data collection includes 'life story' interviews with Russian-speaking women from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus who have married Chinese citizens and moved for their married lives to the People's Republic of China. Most of the recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim in Russian. Some of the non-recorded conversations are summarised in English. The topics covered in the interviews include the women's journeys to China, their experiences of family, social, and working lives, the challenges of legal, socio-cultural and emotional adaptation, and the questions of citizenship and immigration status for women and their children. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The access to this database is under embargo while I finish my research manuscript after which I will make the material publicly available. |
| URL | https://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/854886/ |
| Description | Collaboration with ERC-funded project 'China White', led by Shan Lanlan |
| Organisation | University of Amsterdam |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Elena Barabantseva was invited to for a seminar in Amsterdam in May 2020 to discuss her project and findings with the members of the China White research project. The event was postponed due to C-19 pandemic and will take place on 23 April 2021. |
| Collaborator Contribution | A research seminar will take place on April 23 2021. |
| Impact | no collaborative outcomes and outputs to be reported yet |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with Jilin University |
| Organisation | Jilin University |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I stayed on campus of Jilin University in Nov 2015, met with local staff and students, and explored future collaborations on marriage migration from Russia to China |
| Collaborator Contribution | n/a |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Collaboration with Professor Shen Haimei (Yunnan Minzu University) on Governing Cross-Border Marriages in Southwestern China |
| Organisation | Yunnan Nationalities University |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | PI invited Shen Haimei to participate in the conference panel at the 'Dynamic Borderlands: Livelihoods, Communities and Flows' conference in December 2016. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof Shen is working on the research project 'Governing of Foreign Brides in the China-Myanmar-Laos-Vietnam Border in transnational immigration perspectives" funded by The National Social Science Foundation of China, 2016-2018 |
| Impact | Professor Shen participated in the conference panel 'Cross-border family dynamics: negotiating states, securing livelihoods, practicing citizenship' organised by PI at the 'Dynamic Borderlands: Livelihoods, Communities and Flows' conference in Kathmandu on 12-15 December 2016. Collaborative field research on China's southwestern border is planned for summer 2017. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Collaboration with the project on Immigration Governance in East Asia, led by Gunter Schubert |
| Organisation | Free University of Berlin |
| Department | Graduate School of East Asian Studies (GEAS) |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Elena Barabantseva took part in two research workshops on immigration governance in East Asia where she presented her research on marriage migration to China |
| Collaborator Contribution | The research collaborators organised two workshops and edited a volume on Immigration Governance in East Asia published by Routledge (London) |
| Impact | Schubert, Gunter, Franziska Plummer, and Anastasia Bayok, eds., (2020) Immigration Governance in East Asia: Norm Diffusion, Politics of Identity and Citizenship. London: Routledge. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Collaboration with the project on Immigration Governance in East Asia, led by Gunter Schubert |
| Organisation | Free University of Berlin |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Elena Barabantseva took part in two research workshops on immigration governance in East Asia where she presented her research on marriage migration to China |
| Collaborator Contribution | The research collaborators organised two workshops and edited a volume on Immigration Governance in East Asia published by Routledge (London) |
| Impact | Schubert, Gunter, Franziska Plummer, and Anastasia Bayok, eds., (2020) Immigration Governance in East Asia: Norm Diffusion, Politics of Identity and Citizenship. London: Routledge. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Ma Qiang |
| Organisation | Shaanxi Normal University |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Professor Ma Qiang, himself a Muslim, is a leading expert on Islam and urbanization in China. We started working together on an article, which may lead to larger collaborative projects in the future. I shall act as the lead author, and contribute data collected from on-going field research. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professor Ma Qiang will contribute to this writing project his broad knowledge on changes in Islam in China in the process of globalization, particularly with the immigration of foreign Muslims. |
| Impact | The article is intended for an edited volume "Asia Inside Out: Mobile Peoples" to be published by Harvard University Press. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | National Minzu University, Beijing |
| Organisation | National Taiwan University |
| Country | Taiwan, Province of China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | It is agreed between a research team in National Minzu University in Beijing, led by Professor Zhang Haiyang and Pan Jiao, and me that regular roundtable discussions will be held whenever I am Beijing to discuss on a number of on-going projects. Each participant reports the progresses made in his/her projects and reflections on changes in ethnic relations in China, and comments on other members' progresses. |
| Collaborator Contribution | same as above. |
| Impact | ????????:???/???????--??????????????? [Migrations of ethnic minorities: transcendence and diversity-- conversations between Xiang Biao, Pan Jiao and Zhang Haiyang]. Consensus, 2013, 9 (Spring). |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | collaboration with Guangxi Minzu University |
| Organisation | Guangxi Minzu University, China |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I spent two weeks at the University in June 2015, during which I delivered a seminar to MA students on new approaches to border studies, and conducted a joint fieldwork with a member of staff, Prof Wu Guofu |
| Collaborator Contribution | free on campus accommodation |
| Impact | the fieldwork findings were discussed in the article published as part of the special issue of Cross-Currents |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | 'A Chinese Film Forum UK' Conference Participation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Paper 'Traversing the hyper-real: white female bodies and the desire of national revival in three Chinese TV dramas', presented at 'Women in East Asian Cinema', A Chinese Film Forum UK Conference, Home, Manchester, 4-6 December 2019 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://homemcr.org/event/chinese-film-forum-uk-presents-conference-women-in-east-asian-cinema/ |
| Description | 'Dynamic Borderlands' conference, Kathmandu, 12-15 December 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr. Elena Barabantseva and Dr. Caroline Grillot (Manchester, UK) took part in the 'Dynamic Borderlands: Livelihoods, Communities and Flows' conference in Kathmandu on 12-15 December 2016. 'Cross-border family dynamics: negotiating states, securing livelihoods, practicing citizenship' panel, organized and chaired by Elena Barabantseva, brought together four scholars from China, France and UK at different stages in their careers on the changing cross-border intimacies, governing practices and familial relations across Chinese, Mongolian, Myanmar, and Vietnamese borders. The papers explored the intersection of several dynamics at play, including changing demographies, globalization of reproduction, family revolutions in the post-socialist and neoliberalising contexts, and new migration patterns which these processes engender. In the context of China's shifting position as a new immigrant destination, the papers highlighted that regulations of marriage and migration play crucial roles in defining membership and borders of national community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://immigrantchina.net/2016/12/21/dynamic-borderlands-conference-in-kathmandu-nepal/ |
| Description | AAS-in-Asia conference 2016 (Kyoto) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Elena Barabantseva and Caroline Grillot presented their paper on 'Changing infrastructures of marriage migration along China's borders with Russian and China' at the research project conference panel at the AAS-in-Asia, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan, 24-27 June 2016. The panel and discussion it generated raised the profile of our research project among scholars in Asia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Academic conference contribution |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presented paper entitled 'Russian Wives', Eurasian children and the dilemmas of citizenship in China, Global encounters: Transnational Mobility within and beyond China', Minzu University of China, Beijing, 23-24 June 2018 that generated lively discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | An invited public lecture and an MA seminar at the University of Oxford |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A public lecture and an MA seminar on the topic of 'Intimate Geopolitics: Migration, Marriage and Citizenship across Chinese Borders', presented at 'Reproduction Migration Seminar Series', COMPAS, Oxford University, 21 January 2019. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/event/intimate-geopolitics-migration-marriage-and-citizenship-across-chi... |
| Description | Born across State Borders: Uncertain Citizenship of Chinese-Foreign Children in China |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Conference paper: "Born across State Borders: Uncertain Citizenship of Chinese-Foreign Children in China" Place: MARRIAGE MIGRATION, FAMILY AND CITIZENSHIP IN ASIA | 31 JANUARY - 1 FEBRUARY 2019 Organized by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore co-authored with Elena Barabantseva and Michaela Pelican |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Chinese beekeepers: an outlook on sedentary nomads' practices |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | << Chinese beekeepers: an outlook on sedentary nomads' practices >>, Zurich, Département d'ethnologie, Université de Zurich, Colloquium, 3 octobre. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Conference: Asia in Motion - Horizons of Hope, AAS-in-Asia 2016, Kyoto, Doshisha University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation: << Changing infrastructures of marriage migration along China's borders with Russia and Vietnam >> (with Elena Barabantseva) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Conference: East Asia and Tomorrow's Anthropology, Society for East Asian Anthropology & American Anthropological Association, Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We made a presentation << Marriage migration infrastructure on the Sino-Vietnamese and Sino-Russian borders >> (with Elena Barabantseva) on our research project and gathered opinions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Discussant at a conference at Portsmouth University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Discussant at the 'Rethinking Transnationalism in the Global World: Contested State, Society, Border, and the People In-between' conference which attracted international participants, local students, and several representatives from creative industries. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.port.ac.uk/centre-for-european-and-international-studies-research/events/rethinking-trans... |
| Description | Dynamic Borderlands : Livelihoods, Communities and Flows, 5th Conference of the Asian Borderlands Research Network, Katmandou, Social Science Baha, décembre. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation: << Coping with isolation: reflections on Vietnamese brides networking in rural China >> |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Ethnographies des itinérants et non-existants. L'exemple des migrantes pour mariages vietnamiennes en Chine |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | << Ethnographies des itinérants et non-existants. L'exemple des migrantes pour mariages vietnamiennes en Chine >>, Paris, INALCO, Les Assises de l'Anthropologie de la Chine en France, 6-8 septembre. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Group discussion with postgraduate students at the Department of Anthropology and Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University, 18 April 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Discussion with students working on migration, particularly in Asia, on strategies of conceptualization. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Guest Lecture hosted by the Department of Chinese Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Online guest lecture on the topic 'Intimate Geopolitics: Migration, Marriage, and Citizenship across Chinese Borders' presented to the class of UG and PG students |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Immigrants in China website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Our project website communicates the latest project developments and contributions by project members to the outside world |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://immigrantchina.net |
| Description | Inernational workshop "Suspension: Mobilities, Aspirations, and Sociopolitical Stagnation in China" 17-18 September 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | An international workshop that aims to link immigration to China to internal migration and outmigration through the notion of "suspension". By doing so I hope to shed new light on social transformation (or the lack of political transformation) in China. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/event/suspension/ |
| Description | Interviewed by Viola Zhou and Koh Ewe for their feature on 'The Chinese Obsession with Ukrainian Wives', VICE World News, 4 March 2022, |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | I offered my expertise and provided insights and context to Chinese perceptions of Chinese-Ukrainian couples and Ukrainian brides, including: - How are Ukrainian/Caucasian women perceived in China? Have they been fetishized? - How are Chinese-Ukrainian couples perceived? What does this reflect about Chinese society/culture? - How might the sentiments towards Ukrainian brides and Chinese-Ukrainian couples change because of the Ukrainian invasion? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kbmva/chinese-obsession-ukrainian-women-russia-invasion |
| Description | Invited participation in the'Technologies of Bordering: Creating, Contesting and Resisting Borders' Conference, University of Melbourne, 3-5 July 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | E Barabantseva presented her paper entitled 'Foreign wives, Eurasian children and citizenship dilemmas in the People's Republic of China' at the 'Technologies of Bordering: Creating, Contesting and Resisting Borders' Conference, University of Melbourne, 3-5 July 2019 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/technologies-of-bordering-creating-contesting-and-resisting-borders... |
| Description | Invited research seminar presentation at the University of Durham |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presented paper entitled 'Intimate Geopolitics: Migration, Marriage and Citizenship across Chinese Borders' in the research seminar series of the School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University, 14 January 2019 that provoked a lively discussion afterwards |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/sgia/about/events/?eventno=41521 |
| Description | Invited research seminar presentation at the University of Oxford's China Centre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I presented paper entitled "'Russian brides' and the politics of national reproduction in the People's Republic of China" at the University of Oxford's China Centre that sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.chinacentre.ox.ac.uk/am_event/russian-brides-and-the-politics-of-national-reproduction-in... |
| Description | Invited research visit and two lectures at Jilin University, China |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited research visit to the North-East Asia Research Centre at Jilin University to give two lectures and explore future research synergies. Plans made to develop a future research collaboration. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Joint East Asia Studies Conference, London, SOAS, University of London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation: << Marriage migration infrastructure on the Sino-Vietnamese and Sino-Russian borders >> (with Elena Barabantseva) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Keynote speech |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | "Logistification from below" A keynote speech in the Swiss National Centres of Competence in Research on Mobilities; available at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDJpjTyyHzU |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Keynote speech |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | inaugural lecture at the Max Planck Society Law Initiative China, Society and Law, Xiang draws on materials from the Yiwu field research to demonstrate how ambiguously defined property relations can reduce transaction costs and thus increase efficiency, opposite to the famous transaction cost theory developed by Coase. This observation can be meaningful as this will help us to understand the legal implication of AI and the platform economy. (https://law.mpg.de/engaging-the-network/projects-and-initiatives/china-law-and-society/) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Keynotes Presentation at the workshop Global Ethnographies organized by Central Minzu University Beijing 30 July 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Based on data and research experiences from this project, I discussed three questions (1) the construction of multi-scalar ethnographies aimed at capture dynamics of global social re-formation; (2) (re-)positioning of anthropologists based in the global south in the context of globalization; (3) relation of ethnographic research on "sensitive" topics to changing political environment in China. Part of the keynote presentation is published in Wechat Public Account of Tansuo yu Zhengmin (Exploration and Debate). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | L'Apiculture transhumante en Chine : le savoir traditionnel face à l'exportation et au marché mondial |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | << L'Apiculture transhumante en Chine : le savoir traditionnel face à l'exportation et au marché mondial >>, Strasbourg, University of Strasbourg, Département d'ethnologie, Séminaire Ethnologie et Archéologie 'La mondialisation d'hier et d'aujourd'hui. Approches anthropologique, archéologique et paléontologique', 13 avril. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Lead organizer and moderator of the international conference "China and The Third World's Global Quesions", and four associated public lectures, 19-22 December 2018, Tsinghua University, Beijing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The international conference "China and The Third World's Global Questions", and four associated public lectures, sought to rethink China's social changes, including recent in-migration, in the global context, and by doing so aimed to redefine issues of global concerns, such as migration and ethnoreligious diversity, from the Third World's perspective. The conference and the lectures were reported in one of the most widely read on-line media, The Paper. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Lecture for professional training |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In the frame of the University Diploma << LES PEUPLES TRADITIONNELS : UN REGARD PLURIDISCIPLINAIRE DE LA COSMOGONIE À LA MÉDECINE TRADITIONNELLE >>, in Sainte Anne Hospital in Paris (professional training for medicine practitioners related workers and general public), I gave a lecture on Chinese society, family changes and international marriages based on my expertise and latest research on the topic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.ch-sainte-anne.fr/Etablissement/Instituts-et-Sainte-Anne-Form-tion/Sainte-Anne-Form-tion/... |
| Description | Les mariages sino-vietnamiens en Chine, symptôme d'une société traditionnelle bouleversée |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Lecture in the frame of the Diplôme Universitaire (DU) << Les Peuples traditionnels : un regard pluridisciplinaire. De la cosmogonie à la médecine traditionnelle >>, Centre Hospitalier Sainte Anne (Paris). 4 hours lecture entitled: 'Les mariages sino-vietnamiens en Chine, symptôme d'une société traditionnelle bouleversée', 12 march. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Les pratiques des apiculteurs transhumants chinois : entre déontologie et pression économique |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of my new research project on Chinese migrant beekeepers in the Department of Anthropology (Nanterre University, France), Chinese studies Seminar "Atelier Chine" on June 1st, 2018. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Liberté conditionnelle >> Conditions de travail des apiculteurs transhumants chinois |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of a scientific poster on current research project: Migrant beekeepers in China |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://www.cnrs.fr/mi/spip.php?article1435 |
| Description | Marrying a Smartphone : reflections on Vietnamese migrant social life in rural China |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | << Marrying a Smartphone : reflections on Vietnamese migrant social life in rural China >>, Paris, 6e Congrès Asie, Sciences Po, 26-28 juin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Online keynote speech presented at the International Workshop 'Transnational Marriage in China', Yunnan University, China |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A keynote talk to familiarise workshop participants with key directions and theoretical innovations of my research on marriage migration in China. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Organisation and hosting of the project's final conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Manchester-based team hosted the final project conference with participation of all partners, and external researchers working on the related research topics. The conference attracted 15 postgraduate and early-career researchers from the UK and EU. The conference served as a platform to share and exchange academic findings generated by the project and discussion of publications and future research directions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://immigrantchina.net/2019/04/06/conference-programme-immigration-and-the-transformation-of-chi... |
| Description | Organizor, Public Panel discussion on "Immigration, Labor and Law: the Case of China" Oxford, 7 May 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Two lawyers and one anthropologist (myself) presented our research of the latest immigration policies in China and their social impacts, which form sharp contrast to experiences in Europe but also share some underlying rationalities, particularly the narrow emphasis of the economic value of migration. As such the discussion shed new light on the general discussion on migration policies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Participation in the research workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | presented paper entitled "'Russian Wives', Eurasian children and the Politics of Citizenship in China", at the workshop on 'East Asian Migration Governance in Comparative Perspective: Norm Diffusion, Politics of Identity, and Citizenship', Graduate School of East Asian Studies, Freie Universität Berlin, 12-13 October 2018. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.geas.fu-berlin.de/events/workshops/einsteinplus_ws_18.html |
| Description | Public Lecture at the University of Amsterdam |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Online public lecture on 'Marriage, Migration, and Race across the Chinese-Russian Borders' hosted by the ChinaWhite project based at the University of Amsterdam |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qqzIRh5WFc |
| Description | Public lecture at Summer school on Transnationalism and Nationalism in Central European University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | In this three-hour lecture that was divided into two sections, I draw on my project to illustrate how transnational networks and national society intersect in multiple and sometimes contradictory ways. In particular, I demonstrate that the inflow of Mulsim traders from the Middle East and Africa to China, which is an integral part of economic globalization, is tightly controlled by the central government in China but facilitated by local authorities. Furthermore the transnational flows triggered long-distance internal mobility of Chinese Muslims from the north-western region to the southeast. This has visible impacts of the distribution and social organization of Muslims in China. The talk thus introduced a nuanced, multi-scalar framework for examining the constellation of multiple forms of mobilities based on experiences from the global south. This was particularly appreciated by the participants who were formulating their dissertation research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Research project final conference contribution |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Conference paper (with Caroline Grillot and Michaela Pelican) 'Born Across State Borders: Uncertain citizenship of Chinese-foreign children in China', presented at the "Immigration and Transformation of Chinese Society' conference, Manchester, 25-26 April 2019. An audience of about 40 people attended the presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Seminar series Reproduction Migration in the Asia Pacific |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Nine in-depth research seminars, including the topic of immigration of students to China and marriage migration to China, provide rich comparative context for conceptualizing our materials on immigration China. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Visiting lectureship position |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I spent one week in October 2022 as a guest professor at the Department of Chinese Studies at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia where I taught a 5-day module on the Borders of China. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | public presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I gave a presentation on migration dynamics to and from China on 8 January 2018 in Beijing. The event was organized by the Beijing Office of the International Organization for Migration, and was attended by 15 diplomats, mostly staff of embassies of European countries, journalist (The Economist) and academics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |