Joint project focuses on China’s future

A new joint research project focusing on the future of China was announced today by the Lowy Institute for International Policy and Griffith University’s Griffith Asia Institute (GAI).

Announced by Lowy Institute Director Allan Gyngell and GAI Director Professor Michael Wesley, the project will bring together the resources and expertise of two of Australia’s most important Asia research institutions.

Mr Gyngell said China’s importance was already central to Australia and growing.

“A deep understanding of all the elements of China’s development will be essential to many of the key policy decisions Australian governments and businesses will need to make in the first half of the 21st century,” Mr Gyngell said.

“The project will identify and analyse the major determinants of China’s future and examine their impact on China itself and on the outside world.”

The Griffith — Lowy Institute Project will produce a stream of practically-focused, policy-relevant research on the future of China and be designed for a general audience with the aim of helping to shape broad debate about these issues in Australia and internationally.

The GAI has one of Australia’s largest concentrations of research scholarship on Asia, especially contemporary China, and the Lowy Institute is the country’s largest public policy think tank. Both Institutes are committed to independent, inter-disciplinary, policy-relevant research.

The project will be guided by a Steering Committee including Professor Wesley and Mr Gyngell, Lowy Institute Visiting Fellow and former Australian Ambassador to China Mr R.C. Smith AO, GAI Researchers Professor Michael Dutton and Professor Xu Yi-Chong and Lowy Institute East Asia Program Director Dr Malcolm Cook.