About Us

Present Position

The China Media Centre was launched by BBC’s Jeremy Paxman and Sun Yusheng, Deputy President of China Central Television, on 17 June 2005.

It comprises a team of researchers, led by Professor Hugo de Burgh, Director of the China Media Centre with expertise in

  • Chinese media policy
  • Professionalism in media management
  • New media
  • Journalism in Chinese society and polity
  • Television programming and
  • Magazine publishing
  • Modern Chinese cultural change

and the Knowledge Transfer Manager, Alja Kranjec, with part-time paid admin and marketing backup from students.

Intimately involved in the Centre and its activities is Professor Colin Sparks, who, though not a China specialist is very knowledgeable about the Chinese media and has a high reputation in China. Increasingly involved is development economics specialist Professor Paul Reynolds.

The Centre's activities to date include:

  • Research and publication in academic conferences and journals
  • Knowledge Transfer
  • London-wide academic seminars on China
  • Conferences and Seminars for leading UK decision-makers
  • Presentations and networking events for visiting Chinese officials

Events for MAD master and bachelor students from China, in London

  • MAD alumni events in China
  • Development of Third-party relationships

Original idea

The CMC was originally conceived of as a small centre of university research into Chinese media in the conventional, narrow, sense. It was to contribute to the RAE but also it was hoped that it might be able to earn enough money through ‘consultancy’ to become self sustaining. The Quintin Hogg Trust was prepared to fund it for 5 years.

Achievements to date

The CMC has been particularly successful in

  1. Making its mark as a source of knowledge about China,
  2. Managing the Westminster Hearings in Parliament
  3. Attracting Knowledge Transfer contracts
  4. Cooperating with Chinese institutions

The CMC is very well networked in the China policy world in the UK and the media scene in China.

Organisations with which we are working in China

  • Hunan Broadcasting, China (2 projects completed)
  • State Council Information Office (SCIO) (2 projects completed)
  • Shanghai Media Group (SMG) (1 project completed)
  • Southern Media Group (1 project completed)
  • FCO public diplomacy challenge fund (1 project completed)
  • Shenzhen Media Group (1 project completed)
  • China Central Television (CCTV) (prospect – Hugo de Burgh did a public lecture there for marketing purposes)
  • Communication University of China (CUC) where Colin Sparks is a Visiting Professor
  • Tsinghua University – Colin Sparks and Hugo de Burgh have honorary positions here. de Burgh is a visiting professor and spent three months at Tsinghua early 2007; he has just been appointed to the Advisory Board of Tsinghua, representing Western Europe.
  • Shandong University where Hugo de Burgh is a Visiting Professor and Geoffrey Davies a Visiting Lecturer

Research (Academic)

Individually, members of CMC (Lecturers, Post-Doctoral Fellows, PhD candidates) have interesting research projects and publication track records, which are contributing to the Research Unit’s score.

Professional Briefings

The CMC has carried out a number of highly profitable professional training courses for senior members of Chinese government and media organisations:

Foreign & Commonwealth Office - Public Diplomacy Challenge Fund project

Organised by the CMC in conjunction with the FCO and Tsinghua University. Paid for by the FCO

  • 5 workshops held around China
  • Attended by journalists, senior press and propaganda officers from a wide range of Chinese central and local government organisations and the Beijing Olympics Committee
  • UK journalists were also involved, including: Jonathan Watts the Guardian’s Beijing correspondent; and Nick Mackie the BBC correspondent based in Chongqing
  • A group of 10 senior Chinese officials was also attending a course in London

State Council Information Office

  • The State Council of the People's Republic of China is the highest executive organ of State power, as well as the highest organ of State administration
  • CMC was asked to deliver high level briefings on UK Government media relations to senior members of the SCIO staff in London to learn about how the British government deals with the media
  • Visited senior UK media handlers, Downing Street and the BBC

Hunan Broadcasting

  • Professional training courses covering creativity and innovation in television
  • 2 held in the UK

Southern Media Group (TVS)

  • Professional training course for journalists and TV broadcasters
  • Covering new trends in documentary making in Britain

Shanghai Media Group (SMG)

  • Creativity and Innovation in Television: A Special Short Course for the Shanghai Media Group

Events

The Centre runs a large number of events

The Centre runs seminars:

  • Academic seminars in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 (some were organised jointly with the Centre of Chinese Studies, SOAS) All held in Regent Street and open to postgraduates of any college or university
  • "The China Impact Seminars", March-April 2005, in the Carlton Club
  • 11, Downing Street seminars (produced content for the ‘Valuing China’ Smith Institute Seminars, held in the home of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 2005-2006
  • Westminster Hearings, 2007. See appendix for datasheet publicising the events
  • Half-day CMC seminar – “Chinese Media & Society”- in November 2005, speakers included Professor Guo Zhenzhi from Tsinghua University and Dr. Cao Qing from Liverpool John Moores University.
  • “Opportunities and Obstacles for Foreign Media in China” and “Media and Culture Industry Changesin the Age of Pre-and Post- Party Congress”, Dr Hu Zhengrong, December 2007

China Media Centre’s recent events:

  • Conference:“Changes and Challenges: China ’s Media Today”, June 2008
  • Conference: “Investigative Journalism Goes Global”, June 2008
  • Conference: “China East Asia Media New Media”, Brisbane, July 2007
  • Visit to China by David Willets MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, October 2006.
  • Conference:“Modernisation, Modernity and the Media in China”, June 2006
  • Boris Johnson MP's first trip to China, when he was Conservative Higher Education Spokesman. The trip was filmed by BBC Newsnight. He is now mayor of London.

Third party relationships

The Centre has developed relationships with the following organizations and individuals:

  • McKinsey & Co. – knowledge partner for the Westminster Hearings
  • Great Britain China Centre – Katie Lee (Director)
  • Ben Chapman MP – Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on China
  • Peter Luff MP – Chair, Trade and Industry Select Committee
  • Chinese Embassy
  • Smith Institute – Director Wilf Stevenson is, like Hugo de Burgh, a former colleague of the present Prime Minister.
    • de Burgh appointed an honorary fellow of the influential 48 Group in 2007
    • Good contacts with various members, including Chairman of the 48 Group, Stephen Perry

Plan


CMC is about to be expanded with new posts and scope. The original premises upon which the CMC was founded are that

  1. The University has a media school justifiably claiming to be a leader of both research and professional formation for journalism in particular and the media generally
  2. The University of Westminster has longstanding connections with Chinese media institutions
  3. The media are enormously important elements of the Chinese political establishment and, as such, provide opportunities for understanding Chinese society and its decision makers

These premises still hold good. But we should now extend our appreciation to the new ways in which Westminster’s particularities may be turned to good account in the relations between China and the UK.

We will expand the concept of media to include the culture and creative industries, in which our parent School, Media, Arts & Design is a leading educator.

China is already promoting these industries nationwide and seeking knowledge abroad; all major cities have, or are developing, policies aimed at driving the culture and creative industries by

  • Changing education
  • Building infrastructure
  • Seeking international experience
  • Realizing economic value of culture
  • Encouraging creativity and innovation
  • Funding research projects
  • Providing think tanks.

Furthermore, China’s leading universities, Tsinghua and Peking, with both of which CMC has good connections, have centres focusing on the culture and creative industries.

Over several years, UK Government has put resources into the ‘economicisation’ of these industries and stressed their value to London in particular; emphasized the benefits of trade and cultural relations with China to the UK, and London especially.

The Australian government has funded Queensland University of technology to act as the conduit between the sector in China and Australia, an investment which has both yielded worthwhile academic product and led to the establishment of business joint ventures and increased cultural contacts.

In this climate, and given that the China Media Centre is located within the School of Media, Arts and Design, it is logical to extend our interests into this sector, rather than restrict ourselves to a narrow and conventional understanding of ‘Media’.

Already we have colleagues in other areas of the School and the University who either already are working in the sector with China, or could and would easily do so, with CMC help. Their specialisms include:

  • Photography
  • Recorded music
  • Animation
  • Media management
  • Journalism
  • PR
  • IT (esp video games)
  • Intellectual property
  • Fashion
  • Other areas with potential
  • Architecture
  • Film
  • Advertising
  • Magazine publishing

The University is currently considering how best to build upon the successes of the CMC to invest in its expansion into these fields in order to ensure continuing achievement.