From Thursday 6th - Saturday 8th June, the Confucius Institute played host to a three-day interdisciplinary conference at The Roundhouse, focused around challenges in the implementation of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

This event attracted 25 delegates from 15 UK and Chinese universities, including delegations from Beijing Jiaotong University and Tsinghua University. The conference participants included directors and representatives from a number of organisations such as Cambridge University’s One Belt One Road think tank, Global Institute for Silk Road at Nottingham University, One Belt and One Road Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, and China Research Institute of Silk Road at Beijing Jiaotong University.

The attendees predominantly took part in a number of Presentation panels across this 3-day event, grouped by topics of Law, Environmental Sustainability, International Relations, Governance, and Culture/Perceptions. In addition, Friday 7th June saw the official launch of the Lancaster University Belt and Road Initiative Research Consortium (LUBRIC). It was joint unveiled during the ceremony by Vice Chancellor Mark Smith, Minister Counsellor at the People’s Republic of China Embassy YANG Xiaokun, the Deputy Mayor of Lancaster, Coun Alan Biddulph, and the Confucius Institute UK Director & Head of LUBRIC, Professor Jinghan ZENG.

The launch event was attended by over 70 attendees, including Deputy Vice Chancellor Steve Bradley; Boshu Liang, China Association for International Exchange of Personnel; Junwu Geng, China Association for International Exchange of Personnel; as well as the many visitors to Lancaster University for the BRI Conference.

“Belt and Road Initiative has significant political, social, legal and environmental implications. The primary goal of LUBRIC is to forge a strong interdisciplinary research team at Lancaster University to produce world leading research on BRI,” said Professor Jinghan ZENG, who heads up the Lancaster University Belt and Road Initiative Research Consortium. “The LUBRIC will provide a platform to form strategic partnerships with key BRI research centres in China and Europe.”

The BRI Conference was concluded with a discussion session on future collaborations. We are delighted that, with the launch of LUBRIC, Lancaster University will now look to host a continuation of the BRI Conference on an annual basis. We would be delighted to welcome visitors from across the globe to any and all future events, so please contact us if you wish to learn more of future conferences and events related to research into the BRI.

The Confucius Institute would like to thank all visiting speakers and participants who attended this event, both from within the UK and internationally. We would additionally like to thank all those involved from Lancaster University who helped to arrange this conference, including members from the LU China Centre, and students from the LU Chinese Students and Scholars Association.