Episode 13

China’s “Two Sessions”: Hong Kong, COVID-19 and the Economy

Released on June 2, 2020


There was plenty to digest from China’s coronavirus-delayed “Two Sessions” (Lianghui) annual political gathering last week - so much so that we’ve got a bumper episode for you. The new national security law for Hong Kong is what’s grabbed most of the headlines, but eyebrows were raised too by the absence of an annual growth target for the country for the first time in many years. In the latest of our socially distanced podcasts, Andrew and Vincent are joined by guests from the U.K., the Netherlands and China. Professor Shaun Breslin of the University of Warwick and Professor Dingding Chen of Jinan University in Guangzhou discuss the political fallout from the meeting. And then Dr. Jue Wang takes us through what the Lianghui revealed about China’s economy, and how it’s faring in the pandemic-stricken world.

Shaun Breslin

Shaun Breslin is Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. He is an Associate Fellow of the Chatham House Asia Programme and an Associate Fellow of The Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University. He is also a Senior Associate Research Fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies and an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the Centre for European Studies at Renmin University. He is co-editor of The Pacific Review and has authored numerous books, including China and the Global Political Economy and Mao.

Dingding Chen (@ChenDingding)

Dingding Chen is Professor of International Relations at Jinan University and Non-Resident Fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute. He is the Founding Director of 海国图智研究院 (Intellisia Institute). He is also Assistant Professor with the Department of Government and Public Administration at the University of Macau. In 2005-2006, he was a visiting instructor in Government Department at Dartmouth College. He was affiliated with the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University during his tenure as a CWP Fellow. He holds a B.A. in International Economics from Renmin University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago.

Jue Wang (@JueWangLeiden)

Jue Wang is Assistant Professor of Chinese economy and international political economy at Leiden University's Institute for Area Studies. She is also an Associate Fellow at Chatham House Asia-Pacific Programme. In 2013, she was a research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Warwick. She has presented at numerous academic and policy research conferences. She has also provided trainings for Dutch diplomats on China’s economic development. She received her Ph.D. in politics and international studies from the University of Warwick.